The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress: China's Search for Security

by Andrew J. Nathan, Robert S. Ross

Overview

"A strong antidote to the growing sinophobia in the U.S."—Wall Street Journal

Many see China and the United States on the path to confrontation. The Chinese leadership violates human rights norms. It maintains a harsh rule in Tibet, spars aggressively with Taiwan, and is clamping down on Hong Kong. A rising power with enormous assets, China increasingly considers American interests an obstacle to its own.

But, the authors argue, the United States is the least of China's problems. Despite its sheer size, economic vitality, and drive to upgrade its military forces, China remains a vulnerable power, crowded on all sides by powerful rivals and potential foes. As it has throughout its history, China faces immense security challenges, and their sources are at and within China's own borders. China's foreign policy is calibrated to defend its territorial integrity against antagonists who are numerous, near, and strong.

The authors trace the implications of this central point for China's relations with the United States and the rest of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393317848
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	06/17/1998
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Andrew J. Nathan is professor of political science at Columbia University.

Robert S. Ross is professor of political science at Boston College and research associate at the John King Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, Harvard University.

Table of Contents

AbbreviationsIntroductionPart I. Interest and Identity in Chinese Foreign Policy1. What Drives Chinese Foreign Policy? 2. Who Runs Chinese Foreign Policy?Part II. Security Challenges and Strategies3. Life on the Hinge: China's Russia Policy Durgaing the Cold War and After4. Deciphering the U.S. Threat5. The Northeast Asia Regional System: Japan and the Two Koreas6. China's Other Neighbors: The Asia-Pacific7. China in the Fourth RingPart III. Holding Together: Territorial Integrity and Foreign Policy8. Problems of Stateness: Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan9. Taiwan's Democratic Transition and China's ResponsePart IV. Instruments of Power10. Dilemmas of Opening: Power and Vulnerability in the Global Economy11. Military Modernization: From People's War to Power Projection12. Soft Power and Human Rights in Chinese Foreign PolicyPart V. Conclusion13. Threat or Equilibrium? Notes Acknowledgments Index

Columbia University Press

What People are Saying About This

Michael Yahuda

A fresh and new approach and beyond doubt the best book available on China's foreign policy.

Editorial Reviews

A cool appraisal of China's place in the world, which discounts the more fevered expectations of Chinese aggression.

Nathan (Political Science/Columbia Univ.) and Ross (Political Science/Boston Coll.), while noting that China can be very aggressive (it has engaged in conflicts with the US, Russia, Japan, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Taiwan in this century), believe that it is vulnerable and aware of its vulnerability. Its weaknesses are both military—"by far the weakest of the four great powers in Asia"—and economic, with an economic strategy "that will succeed only through intensified integration into the world economy." China has, in effect, found itself having to catch a ride on the Asian tigers, with all the usual dangers attached to such transportation. Prior to the Nixon visit to Beijing in 1972, Chinese policymakers reckoned that the economy had to grow 6 to 10 percent a year to improve living standards enough to prevent economic and social breakdown. This has meant that China, potentially one of the most self-sufficient countries in the world, has become increasingly dependent not just on world trade but on the attitude of institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. This has led to immense improvements in the nation's living standards but has come at the cost of opening up the country to the very kinds of social and cultural forces that topple repressive regimes. Despite the substantial differences between the US and China—the trade deficit, human rights, Taiwan—Nathan and Ross conclude that the fundamental interests of the two countries "pull them together more than they drive them apart."

A thoughtful, dispassionate, and persuasive look at a great power during a time of great challenge and change.

Kirkus Reviews

This is a superb book, richly detailed, and will be required reading for anyone wishing to understand how China views its own situation.

Journal of Asian Studies - David C. Kang

Comprehensive, persuasive, and empathetic, China's Search for Security offers a fresh look.

e-International Relations - Kendrick Kuo

China's Search for Security is a good introductory text for students and policymakers without expertise in the area. It highlights and summarizes most of the critical issues associated with Chinese security policy

H-Diplo - Robert Farley

[Nathan & Scobell] skillfully and fairly explore this complex and contradictory American-Chinese competition — without themselves being complex or contradictory.

New York Review of Books - Jonathan Mirsky

Even though China's foreign policy has become more practical and confident, China's rise has generated regional and international anxiety. Nathan and Scobell probe the mix of forces reshaping Chinese strategic deliberations, providing the deepest insight yet into how Chinese decision-makers perceive their geostrategic predicaments and security challenges.

Zhe Sun

Nathan and Scobell are extremely well qualified to assess China's foreign policy. As their book makes clear, understanding that policy is essential to the consideration of virtually every issue of international concern. I strongly recommend China's Search for Security to all those with an interest in global public policy.

Aryeh Neier

For the scholar, student, and general reader, China's Search for Security is a source of value. Nathan and Scobell successfully view the world through Chinese eyes and provide just the right mix of interpretation and narrative. Nuggets of insight glitter on every page.

Richard Bush

The rise of China is the most important international trend of our time, and this superb book is the best guide to it that I've seen. Broad, deep, and wise, it is simply an indispensable introduction to all aspects of China's ongoing encounter with the world at large. Any politician or pundit who wants to say anything at all about this subject should have to pass a test on Andrew J. Nathan and Andrew Scobell's tour de force before doing so.

Gideon Rose