Peering Inside the ‘Black Box’
China’s Leadership Transition at the 18th Party Congress
Just hours after the United States voted for its next president, China, too, is preparing for a leadership change—although much less is known about that process, which begins Thursday with the start of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. In an attempt to shed light on this opaque political exercise, the Asia Society together with the editors of ChinaFile have conducted a series of studio interviews.
Orville Schell, Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society, begins the series.
DISCUSSION

The Popularity of Chinese Patriotism
MARTIN BERNALFundamentally China is a sellers’ market. The first half of this century, when there was a glut of books, seems to have been the exception. Since 1949 a veil has once more been drawn over the center of the mysterious east, and the situation has reverted to that of the...
Mao’s China
MARTIN BERNALTo most Westerners China is not a part of the known world and Mao is not a figure of our time. The ignorant believe he is the leader of a host of martians whose sole occupation is plotting the destruction of civilization and the enslavement of mankind. The more sophisticated say...
Contradictions
MARTIN BERNALProfessor Schurmann is not modest. Near the beginning of his book he writes: “translations from Chinese, Russian and Japanese are my own, and hundreds of articles had to be read in the original Chinese with precision and at the same time extensively. It was important to...




























