Wang Gungwu - Böcker

This book explores China's place in the ‘new international order’, from both the international perspective and from the perspective within China. It discusses how far the new international order, as outlined by George Bush in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the liberation of Kuwait in the Gulf War, with its notions of ‘international order’, as viewed by the United States, and with the United States seeing itself as the single dominant power, applies to China. The contributors offer the implications, both positive and negative, of China's growing economic power, and the possibility that China will increase its military power. They also examine the idea that the Chinese leadership is being carried along itself by events in China, which it does not fully control, and that other growing forces within China, such as nationalism, increasing social grievances, structural instability, and rivalry between the centre and the regions potentially work against China's growing strength in the international arena. Considering traditional Chinese notions of ‘international’ power, where the world is seen as sino-centric, with neighbouring countries subservient to China in varying degrees, the book argues that this represents a fundamentally different view of the international order, one where the equal sovereignty of every state does not apply, where there is an acknowledged hierarchy of power, and where domestic and international issues are highly interdependent.

This book explores China's place in the ‘new international order’, from both the international perspective and from the perspective within China. It discusses how far the new international order, as outlined by George Bush in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the liberation of Kuwait in the Gulf War, with its notions of ‘international order’, as viewed by the United States, and with the United States seeing itself as the single dominant power, applies to China. The contributors offer the implications, both positive and negative, of China's growing economic power, and the possibility that China will increase its military power. They also examine the idea that the Chinese leadership is being carried along itself by events in China, which it does not fully control, and that other growing forces within China, such as nationalism, increasing social grievances, structural instability, and rivalry between the centre and the regions potentially work against China's growing strength in the international arena. Considering traditional Chinese notions of ‘international’ power, where the world is seen as sino-centric, with neighbouring countries subservient to China in varying degrees, the book argues that this represents a fundamentally different view of the international order, one where the equal sovereignty of every state does not apply, where there is an acknowledged hierarchy of power, and where domestic and international issues are highly interdependent.

Chinese encounters with the British were more than merely those between two great powers. There was the larger canvas of the Empire and Commonwealth where the two peoples traded and interacted. In China, officials and merchants had to place the British beside other enterprising foreign peoples who were equally intent on influencing developments there. There were also Chinese who encountered the British in personal ways, and individual British who ventured into a 'vast unknown' with its deep history. Wang Gungwu's 2003 book, based on lectures linking China and the Chinese with imperial Britain, examines the possibilities in, as well as the limits of, their encounters. It takes the story beyond the clichés of opium, fighting, and the diplomatic skills needed to fend off rivals and enemies, and probes some areas of more intimate encounters, not least the beginnings of a wider English-speaking future.

Chinese encounters with the British were more than merely those between two great powers. There was the larger canvas of the Empire and Commonwealth where the two peoples traded and interacted. In China, officials and merchants had to place the British beside other enterprising foreign peoples who were equally intent on influencing developments there. There were also Chinese who encountered the British in personal ways, and individual British who ventured into a 'vast unknown' with its deep history. Wang Gungwu's 2003 book, based on lectures linking China and the Chinese with imperial Britain, examines the possibilities in, as well as the limits of, their encounters. It takes the story beyond the clichés of opium, fighting, and the diplomatic skills needed to fend off rivals and enemies, and probes some areas of more intimate encounters, not least the beginnings of a wider English-speaking future.

The Chinese state has been the subject of fierce debates since reformers and revolutionaries first fought to redefine it at the end of the Qing dynasty. After the 1912 Revolution, when the idea of “empire” gave way to that of “nation-state,” the Chinese people sought a modern identity, re-designed their governance system and re-wrote their history. Revolution became the source of the legitimacy that the new leaders defended in a world based on state sovereignty. They soon found the task of reconciling their republic with the political culture they inherited extraordinarily difficult. They now sense that their state is neither an empire nor a nation-state and seek to renew the Chinese state through a civilisation of industry and science fused with the best of their heritage.Chinese statehood will also be shaped by the country’s relations with its neighbours, the way its leaders deal with global issues of social justice, its attitudes towards culture and identity among all varieties of Chinese peoples, and the deep sense of history that guides state formation. The author probes into the Chinese perception of its place in world history, and examines the unique features that propel China onto its modern global trajectory. By bringing these themes together, he depicts the travails of renewal that the Chinese have to face and betters our understanding of China’s position in today’s interconnected world.

The book addresses questions such as, how should historians treat the earlier pasts of each country and the nationalism that guided the nation-building tasks? Where did political culture come in, especially when dealing with modern challenges of class, secularism and ethnicity? What part do external or regional pressures play when the nations are still being built? The authors have thought deeply about the issues of writing nation-building histories and have tried to put them not only in the perspective of Southeast Asian developments of the past five decades, but also the larger areas of historiography today.

As someone who has studied history for much of my life, I have found the past fascinating. But it has always been some grand and even intimidating universe that I wanted to unpick and explain to myself.Wang Gungwu is one of Asia's most important public intellectuals. He is best-known for his explorations of Chinese history in the long view, and for his writings on the Chinese diaspora. With Home is Not Here, the historian of grand themes turns to a single life history: his own. Wang writes about his multicultural upbringing and life under British rule. He was born in Surabaya, Java, but his parents' orientation was always to China. Wang grew up in the plural, multi-ethnic town of Ipoh, Malaya (now Malaysia). He learned English in colonial schools and was taught the Confucian classics at home. After the end of WWII and Japanese occupation, he left for the National Central University in Nanjing to study alongside some of the finest of his generation of Chinese undergraduates. The victory of Mao Zedong's Communist Party interrupted his education, and he ends this volume with his return to Malaya.Wise and moving, this is a fascinating reflection on family, identity, and belonging, and on the ability of the individual to find a place amid the historical currents that have shaped Asia and the world.

China has achieved significant socio-economic progress and has become a key player on the international stage after several decades of open-door and reform policy. Looking beyond China's transformation, this book focusses on the theme of governance which is widely regarded as the next most critical element to ensure that China's growth remains sustainable.Today, China is confronted with a host of pressing challenges that call for urgent attention. These include the need to rebalance and restructure the economy, the widening income gaps, the poor integration of migrant populations in the urban areas, insufficient public housing and healthcare coverage, the seeming lack of political reforms and the degree of environmental degradation. In the foreign policy arena, China is likewise under pressure to do more to address global concerns while not appearing to be overly aggressive. The next steps that China takes would have a great deal to do with governance, in terms of how it tackles or fails to address the myriad of challenges, both domestic and foreign.China: Development and Governance, with 57 short chapters in total, is based on up-to-date scholarly research written in a readable and concise style. Besides China's domestic developments, it also covers China's external relations with the United States, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Non-specialists, in particular, should find this volume accessible and useful in keeping up with fast-changing developments in East Asia.

China has achieved significant socio-economic progress and has become a key player on the international stage after several decades of open-door and reform policy. Looking beyond China's transformation, this book focusses on the theme of governance which is widely regarded as the next most critical element to ensure that China's growth remains sustainable.Today, China is confronted with a host of pressing challenges that call for urgent attention. These include the need to rebalance and restructure the economy, the widening income gaps, the poor integration of migrant populations in the urban areas, insufficient public housing and healthcare coverage, the seeming lack of political reforms and the degree of environmental degradation. In the foreign policy arena, China is likewise under pressure to do more to address global concerns while not appearing to be overly aggressive. The next steps that China takes would have a great deal to do with governance, in terms of how it tackles or fails to address the myriad of challenges, both domestic and foreign.China: Development and Governance, with 57 short chapters in total, is based on up-to-date scholarly research written in a readable and concise style. Besides China's domestic developments, it also covers China's external relations with the United States, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Non-specialists, in particular, should find this volume accessible and useful in keeping up with fast-changing developments in East Asia.

This volume is a book of reflections and encounters about the region that the Chinese knew as Nanyang. The essays in it look back at the years of uncertainty after the end of World War II and explore the period largely through images of mixed heritages in Malaysia and Singapore. They also look at the trends towards social and political divisiveness following the years of decolonization in Southeast Asia. Never far in the background is the struggle to build new nations during four decades of an ideological Cold War and the Chinese determination to move from near-collapse in the 1940s and out of the traumatic changes of the Maoist revolution to become the powerhouse that it now is.