Well, here it is. In three previous reviews I've examined China Intercontinental Press's "Sinopedia" series, a 12-volume series of hybridized textbook/documentaries. I've broken this series into 4 sets of 3 books each, divided according to how useful I found them.
Set 1: Enlightening - These insightful volumes actually managed to hold my attention and made me want to continue reading the series.
Set 2: Useful - Though not exactly gripping, these books were useful enough that I have referred back to them and cited them several times.
Set 3: Semi-useful - I didn't get much out of these except useful data and statistics, but for a China-watcher they're good for that much.
Set 4: Absolute rubbish - Unmasked, unapologetic heaps of Chinese State-sponsored propaganda, and they didn't even have the decency to make their propaganda convincing.
And so, we come now to set 4, the cream of the crap. This lackluster quarter of the collection consists of China's Diplomacy by Zhang Qingmin, China's National Defense by Peng Guanqian, Zhao Zhiyin and Luo Yong, and China's Science, Technology and Education by Xi Qiaojuan & Zhang Aixu.
...Brace yourselves.
China's Diplomacy
If you have already read Renmin University Press's Opinion of China, which was so asinine that not even the Wolf Warrior wannabes at RMU were willing to let their names be put on it, this reads like a slightly polished companion volume to that. The self-importance doesn't quite start from the first paragraph (which is something of an accomplishment compared to other volumes of this series, ironically), but once it starts, it doesn't stop.
China upholds justice in international affairs and has become a responsible power with its status on the world stage gradually upgraded. China stands for peaceful negotiation... and lives up to its commitments in the settlement of such global issues as climate change and public health. (p. 3)
If you want to read about China's commitments to the environment just take a look at Beijing's air, and need we even speak of the global spotlight that shines upon their catastrophic failure in public health right now? From here, the book goes on to speak of China's commitment to Democracy, equality and diversity (p. 5), a statement any Tibetan, Uighur, or African would find hilarious. This is followed by the pompous assertion "the world cannot become prosperous without China (p. 5)," the declaration that it is up to the self-anointed "Central Nation" to decide which interests of other nations are and are not legitimate and should or should not be honored (p. 6), and a rather undisguised assertion of the "Yellow Man's Burden" in terms that would have made Kipling blush (p. 6)."
And all that is just in the preface.
What follows is an unapologetic explanation of the Sinocentric Tributary Order imposed by Chinese emperors upon their neighbors through force of arms for millennia, and a calm, no-nonsense declaration that China's goal is to re-establish the same (for which the petty, meager laowai barbarian nations should be grateful, according to 'dee mah-tee Chah-nah').
Giving birth to one of the four ancient great civilizations, China has donated marvelous contributions to the world. In developing its relations with peripheral nations and countries in its long history, China has formed a China-centered and moral-based harmonious system, which is referred to as "Chinese World Order." (p. 8)
The best propagandists in Washington, on their best day, could not come up with anything that makes China sound as arrogant as the Chinese just confessed themselves to be in that single, damning sentence. Not only do they unabashedly refer to all non-Chinese nations as the "periphery," but they shamelessly declare the alleged moral superiority and "harmonious" nature of this System, while regarding the imposition of the will of the Chinese Emperor upon neighboring nations is regarded as a "marvelous contribution."
Need I remind my readers yet again that this was written by order of the Party, by a Party member, for publication by a State-Owned publisher, as part of a State-Mandated series, for the purpose of fulfilling the State Initiative of "Tell China's Story to the World?" There's no question of "that's one guy who doesn't speak for the whole country" here. This is official CPC dogma, repeatedly vetted. They want the whole world to hear them say this. This is the face they chose to put on.
Frankly, I feel that the discussion of whether or not China is capable of ever becoming a civilized member of the World Community can be closed from that point forward with a resounding "no," but the author apparently feels he has not embarrassed himself and his country enough and continues in this vein for another 152 pages, after taking another opportunity on page 8 to pat China on the back for their "democratic revolution" in 1949.
And of course, the contradictions fly fast and furious from there. From "China is opposed to military intervention (p. 9)" to "China reserves the right to militarily intervene anywhere we deem necessary (p. 35, 58 and 59)." From "Anything involving Taiwan is a purely domestic issue (p. 21, 30)" to "because of globalization all domestic issues are global issues (p. 51)." From "no country has the right to impose its will upon others (p. 11)" to "unless its China. Then other countries should be grateful (p. 8, 46)." Because remember, "the world cannot have its prosperity and stability without China," and of course the world should be grateful for the chance to serve China first because only then can crumbs trickle off the table to the lesser nations (p. 54).
And having reached these depths of juvenile stupidity, the book then proceeds from this rock bottom... to sink. Everything from page 70 onward is basically a series of China's usual "we are always innocent and every country who dares disagree with us is an evil imperialist" screeds aimed at every country China has a historical grievance against (which is basically to say "every country strong enough to tell China to 'fuck off' "). It reads like a pouting 5 year old child's it's-not-my-fault-it's-everyone-else's-fault rant, and ends with a patronizing admonition to all nations of the world to submit to the Sinocentric Tributary Order outlined on page 8, which the author calls a "harmonious world of peace and prosperity."
China's National Defense
In his notes on the 4th Xiangshan Forum in 2013, Dr. Christopher Ford commented on the PLA's undisguised mentality that "peace" should be defined as "contrition and subjugation before China," and the way PLA officers did not bother hiding their view that all non-Chinese nations of the world must perform a groveling Maoist self-criticism session wherein they accept China's version of history (which he described as appearing to have taken place in an alternate universe) and atone for it by performing obeisance before the all-virtuous and self-anointed "Central Nation (Ford)." No offense to Dr. Ford, but he could've saved himself the headache of listening to this claptrap through the entire forum by reading a book China had already published 3 years prior.
This one starts off with China's favorite national pastime: crying about Japan and the West. Page 4 has the usual spread of copied and pasted slogans about Western "aggression" against China in the 19th century, followed by classically Chinese tooth-gnashing about Japan's invasion during the 1930's, which the author insists was "the most barbaric, the most brutal and the bloodiest war of aggression" in all of Human history.
I guess the author forgot Yuan China's two invasions of Japan (which, having never been avenged, were the crux of the impetus for Japan's long-overdue retribution in WW2). I'm also going to guess he forgot the 6 figure massacres China themselves inflicted annually upon their neighbors from 221 B.C until the Mongol Conquest in the 1200's, many of which are gleefully recorded in Sima Qian's Records of the Historian. And of course, this is followed on page 6 with one of China's favorite myths, the statement that 30 million Chinese died in WW2. For the record, China's own census records from the time period disprove that this could even have been possible.
Anyway, as soon as the preliminaries are over and done with and the book finally tries to make a point (which admittedly is not until more than 30 pages in), the authors deny China has ever invaded any other country (p. 36 & 37). I won't bother with the glaringly obvious list of their invasions in the 20th and 21st centuries alone, from India to both Koreas to Vietnam to the USSR's Damansky Island to the Philippines to half of ASEAN and now back to India, which the author bafflingly insists were "defensive" campaigns (p. 37). Instead, I'd like to address the fact that the entire history of Eastern Asia is a history of genocide and enslavement by China's legions. The vast majority of what is considered "China" today doesn't have an ounce of Chinese blood or culture in it, and has spent most of its history fighting against foreign incursions by Han troops, only to have the emperor's will imposed upon them. Remember that Sinocentric Tributary Order mentioned in China's Diplomacy?
This is supported by the declaration that Admiral Zheng He, who sailed from China with an armada of warships and 200,000 troops under his command on more than 30 voyages, was a trade mission carrying Chinese "gifts" to the world (p. 37).
You know, never mind the more than 150,000 slaves he abducted and took back to China (including more than 6,000 pre-teen girls from the Tagalog Islands, later called the Philippines, to be presented to the Emperor as part of China's long tradition of sex slaves), or the fact that his warships returned to China with their holds lined with plunder exacted from everywhere from Africa to Kamchatka under the threat of Chinese invasion.
I mean, it's not an invasion when China does it, right? There is also the declaration that China "never tried to establish colonies overseas."
...Um... the entire 9-dash-line is based off of China's claim that there were Chinese colonies on those islands there at some ill-defined point in the murky past. So tell me, China, which one is the lie?
And of course, there is the fact that this book's companion volumes China's History and China's Culture, which I reviewed earlier, gloriously outline the history of colonization which China claims in this volume not to have engaged in. I suppose when you're "a country above all others (p. 39)," your science is so advanced that you can exist in two separate and contradictory timelines, right? Yeah, we'll get started on China's "advanced technology" later.
Having lead off with the bluster that accompanies any Chinese government material (recall the preface from China's Ethnic Groups and Religions about the "Invincible and Victorious People's Liberation Army"), the book then delves into the mouse-like insecurity that has underpinned China's military mindset since Sun-Tzu. Pages 15 and 55 both stress China's fear that Western I.T. superiority would give the West the same advantage over China's barely-mechanized military that industrialization gave during the Opium Wars. Considering that China's view of war has always been to hide behind walls (p. 23), and when those walls inevitably fail, to huff and puff and snort and stomp until an enemy backs down without a fight (p. 36), this recurring uncertainty of what to do when an enemy's will is NOT broken without fighting, has been the Achilles' Heel of China's strategic thinking for centuries. The book tapdances all around that without ever stopping to admit "China's weakness has always been we're all bark and no bite, and we have no balls."
And of course, any look into the Princesses of Lower Asia (PLA) would be incomplete without hundreds of reminders that the PLA's greatest enemy, indeed the only enemy against which the PLA has ever seen sustained combat, is the Chinese People themselves. Pages 60, 62, 76, 78, 79, 81 & 82 all include reminders that the PLA's primary purpose is to keep the Party in power, and some of these are jaw-droppingly blunt.
The garrison forces mainly perform guard duties for leaders of the Party... (p. 79)
Perhaps the ridiculous picture of infantry in 1980's gear riding segues on p. 16 comes from this detail. In any case, the book begins by beating its chest like a gorilla, and ends by whimpering like a chihuahua. In short, it's the perfect metaphor for China.
China's Science, Technology and Education
Did you know China invented electric cars? I didn't. I thought Gustave Trouvre's 1881 invention was the first electric vehicle (Wakefield, 2 & 3). I'm pretty sure most of the world thought this as well. But according to Xi Qiaojuan & Zhang Aixiu, the world's first electric vehicle was unveiled at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 (p. 1)
Other inventions for which China takes credit within the first 10 pages of this bizarre volume include space flight (p. 2), the institution of universities (p. 5) (which is especially interesting considering China didn't have a university anywhere within their borders until America built one for them, called Tsinghua), and the notion of letting corporations implement the research done by universities is, apparently, something no one in the world thought of until China pioneered it (p. 11).
...I suppose the world's universities were secret cabals where only a few scholars knew anything about the world and the rest of us were squatting in caves eating raw meat, until glorious China came along and fixed that, right? Don't laugh. The way this book read, I wouldn't put it past the authors to nod their heads and say "precisely."
And of course, who is better qualified to praise China, than China? Which is why page 11 features a lengthy diatribe about all the awards the Chinese government gave to the Chinese government for greater scientific prowess than the Chinese government, as a symbol of China's apparent scientific superiority over a lost and inferior world.. Clearly a globally significant indicator, right?
The book goes on to praise such great Chinese innovators as ZTE (p. 12 & 13), who spent the past four years fighting for their lives when the US slapped them with sanctions for IP theft.
But enough about technology. The book claims to also look at China's education system, right? Boy, does it. And for anyone laboring under the delusion that China's education system is a model worth following, the authors are quite proud of China's "city kids go to college, rural kids drop out and go to Vo-Tech" principle, which is outlined in all its systemic, institutionalized, rigidly enforced details on pages 20 - 22. Page 23 boasts that by 2007, China's rate of high school enrollment among students of the proper age for high school, had finally risen to 66%. In other words, not only do barely two-thirds of Chinese students ever see the inside of a high school classroom (and don't get me started on how dismal their schools are for the ones who get there), but this is actually an improvement.
Later on on this same page, there is a seemingly innocent, innocuous little sentence.
In the meantime, the plan called for actively implementing the central government's plan to further strengthen and improve the development of ideology and morality among adults and ideological and political work among university students. (p. 23)
Presuming that the reader recognizes the connotations of the word "morality" in CPC dogma (that is, submission to the Party), this sentence begins a paragraph wherein China boasts about that which they typically try to deny: namely, that their education system is primarily the equivalent of what the West would call "Sunday School," attaching more importance to making students love and worship their Lord and Savior, St. Mao and his current prophet, Xi Jinping, than with any actual education. In short, China's education system, much like its military, exists primarily to keep the nation submissive to the Communist Party.
The rest of the book offers few morsels of... well, anything really. There is a brief and rather laughable assertion that all the world's scientific minds will soon flock to China because they are eager "to serve the country (p. 45)," and a claim that "Chinese colleges and universities [have] become a paradise that attracts young foreign students (p. 100)," which is hilarious for anyone who has ever been to China. To clarify, the US has more foreign students from the Scandinavian Peninsula than China has from the entire world.
Finally, the book drones on with about 100 pages of "look at what a glorious research industry China has," though nowhere is there an example of anything the country has invented since gunpowder. Essentially, in a series that seems to have taken pride in alternating between "saying nothing but lies" and "saying nothing at all," the book seems to have exhausted its capacity for option 1 and chosen option 2.
So Who Should Read Them?
If you have a friend who absolutely hates everything about China with a fervent, fiery, vitriolic passion defying description in any tongue known to the Human mind, and you want to understand why, then read these three books. They'll offer a few clues.
If you want someone to have the above-mentioned view of China, then have them read these three books. If you are one of the few people on the planet who does not yet view China the way I described above and would like your eyes opened, then you should read these three books.
But if you do not want to feel your heart filled with a soul-consuming loathing for every aspect of that sprawling, third-world cesspool of corruption and stupidity, growing in the smog-choked and polluted mire underneath the ass-end of the Russian Empire, that laughably calls itself "Central Nation" and "Celestial Empire..."
...Then you really should avoid these three.
Works Cited
Ford, Christopher. "Sinocentrism for the Information Age: Comments on the 4th Xiangshan Forum." New Paradigms Forums. 13 Jan, 2013. Web. 6 October, 2020. http://www.newparadigmsforum.com/NPFtestsite/?p=1498
Peng Guanqian, Zhao Zhiyin & Luo Yong. Trans. Ma Chenguang & Yan Shuang. China's National Defense. Beijing, 2010. China Intercontinental Press.
ISBN 978-7-5085-1310-2
Wakefield, Ernest H (1994). History of the Electric Automobile. New York, 1994. Society of Automotive Engineers. pp. 2–3.
ISBN 1-5609-1299-5.
Xi Qiaojuan & Zhang Aixu. China's Science Technology and Education. Beijing, 2010. China Intercontinental Press.
ISBN 978-7-5085-1687-5
Zhang Qingmin. Trans. Zhang Qingmin. China's Diplomacy. Beijing, 2010. China Intercontinental Press.
ISBN 978-7-5085-1312-6