timestamps didn't show on the video, so i thought i put it here: Intro 0:37 Party of One 3:39 One Child 6:29 The People's Republic of Amnesia 9:49 We Have Been Harmonised 12:27 Mao's Great Famine 15:02 The Truth about China 18:50 Red Roulette 22:37 The Long Game 25:11 Chit chat 28:05
Your video was amazing. I appreciate you giving a summary of the book and then your opinion. It is good to give your opinion while also using personal anecdotes and other facts. It would be interesting if you viewed the Twitter accounts of the respective authors. Some of these authors may be spokespeople or reporters for news agencies in the West which may give more of an insight on how they view China and other countries.
Lazy , single cell minded like paramecium and pathetic people will choose to bash China as it is the easiest way to gain support, views and money. It is just like the simple rules of doing good with expecting any return of favour or reward are tough but condemning, blasphemy, false accusation, BS etc are the easiest to achieve.
About Tienanmen. US analysts rarely mention that the protesters were no a solid bloc of peaceful people. Like in all "organized" political protests there were agitators doing violence against state properties and police forces. Event some foreign journalists feared for their health because of the burst of violence that often explode from the crowd. US officials, like Nancy Pelosi in 1991, made public relation stunt by going to visit the Tienanmen square with western news coverage. I wonder what those US analysts would say if a foreign political figure like Dmitry Medvedev make a visit to the US Capitol with Russian news coverage to comemorate the January 6 2021 events of the MAGA protesters. The Chinese people have forgoten about the events of Tienanmen square of 1989 that the US journalists will never forget. The same way that the American people have forgoten about the Weapons of Mass Destruction of Irak in 2003 that the rest of the world journalists will never forget.
So true，Especially those political opportunists who push naive students forward, yet still flee to the United States early and spread rumors indiscriminately afterwards. I really feel nauseous.@@GGY-yh6li
@@GGY-yh6li The South Korean people haven’t forgotten the lessons of the Gwangju incident. As the saying goes, “A nation that forgets its history has no future". Hong Kong people are no longer allowed to commemorate 4 June.
Thanks for sharing your reactions to all those books. I am a very busy school teacher and don't have time to read them. I am an expat American. I have began living in Chinese culture since 1998 and when I first looked around I thought I was more advanced than the people here. It took me about ten years to realize that I had lonly been looking at things from "America colored glasses." later I decided that there were many things that Americans should learn from China about how to live in a peaceful, cooperative society. I returned to the USA in 2017 and thought about trying to tell them that. After I got there I realized that there is no one who would listen. Perhaps some time you could make a video about what Americans need to learn from Chinese culture. If they could learn to trust each other without having a gun within arms reach, if they could learn cooperation rather than individualism, if they could drop all their paranoia of anything non-American perhaps they could live in decent peaceful society and overturn the epidemic of violence that has taken over the country. I feel safer and that life is much more meaningful now that I back in Chinese culture. Looking forward to your next video!
Thank you for sharing your experiences and perspective. I live in Canada and have around me many people of Chinese descent.. and I can tell you that Chinese people often look at things in a very nuanced, pragmatic and multifaceted way. You are right, western societies can learn a lot from Chinese culture. But that would never happen.
As a European who has lived for over 20 years in Hong Kong I also resonate with what you say here. I also would initially filter everything I saw through my cultural lenses and I saw that other foreigners would do the same. Like you, it also took me many years to start seeing through my lenses, which not only revealed more and more what chinese culture was, but also told me much about my own culture. Now that I'm back to my home country I find the same difficulties you describe, and it's very hard to communicate the complexities of such discoveries in a few minutes when talking to people who never lived elsewhere.
Or you could go to Denmark, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, or New Zealand to experience that. The case of lack of peacefulness with guns is a quite American phenomena. We do have our bad areas and countries in the rest of west when it comes to that, but some are also peaceful.
Great. I started knowing China's culture by watching Pula Muralha's RUclips channel. A Chinese girl comes to Brazil to teach and marries a Brazilian guy. Eventually, the girl started her channel for a Brazilian audience. No politics, just showing her family, food, places, and how life is in China. In conclusion, human beings are equal everywhere. And discovered Chinese people could be very nice, everybody struggling to succeed, like you and me. I love your videos. Politicians, also, are equal everywhere...
I was born in Shanghai but grew up here in the states. My mom also was pregnant with a second child but we could not afford the fine. She chose to have an abortion. When I was younger I carried all the current western views and criticized China on nearly everything. However after 2 trips visiting China in 2012 and then 2018. My views completely changed. I started to read and learn more about the problems the Chinese government tried to solve and the solutions available to them at the time. I must say, as a western raised person, I have a default habit of looking at things from a moral standpoint. Or rather I am taught to look at only the process. While the Chinese care way more about the result. And, you cannot argue with the result. If there was no 1 child policy, China's economy in the 80's and 90's was not strong enough to support a few hundred million more ppl. The country would have collapsed into chaos. Without the huqo system, you would get Indian style ghettos in major cities. I can go on and on. The thing I tried to explain to my friends here in the states, (those who are willing to listen and be open minded about building a bridge between 2 cultures) is this. You cannot judge the actions of China until you fully understand the circumstances, the problems, and the available solutions to China. While the west would have approached these daunting problems differently, the same solutions are not possible in China.
The typical western way of thinking towards China is “put all the context aside, at this moment, I think this (a particular issue) is BAD! Thus China is BAD.” You just cannot talk with them.
So you need to be the world's second worst dictatorship (after N. Korea) to 'solve' problems as a government? I'm just trying to understand how that is related, and the "problems" only got worse and worse and have added up in 15 years.
That is one point you pointed out, and I totally agree with that, another I think should be that, this world was once dominated by the collective west, that's true, but the west is not the only party exist in this world, even when it comes to like moral standpoint that you mentioned, what standard should it be? The western one, or some others'? Not just the Chinese, I think the whole global south has been really tired of the west pointing at others' noses and tell them what to do and not to.
@@thhanh1003 So your system of logic is so amazingly flawed that you couldn't figure out what amount of info that's missing before anyone could even conclude and that it is much easier to jump to conclusions? Great.
Obviously you don’t know much about China and was bought into seeing the “surfaces“ of things about China like countless Westerners singing praises on China because of it’s huge difficulties and accomplishments, well played into the CCP’s narratives, just like this channel. As a Taiwanese and steep into Chinese culture and history, we all know too well about the United Front of the CCP, which was served to bring alignment of the enemy thoughts into the folds of the CCP narratives and how it wants itself to present to the world. You are obviously a clueless fish that has been turned around by the CCP. Look, human right and free speech are universal, which means apply for all human society and cultures because it is human nature. Taiwan offers an alternative of what Chinese society may look like in a democracy because it is also a society steeped in Chinese culture. You can also look at other Asian societies such as Korea or Japan. We all have similar cultures and we don’t have to run the society like the CCP does. In fact, many Chinese oppose the CCP rule, and that’s why the KMT retreats to Taiwan after losing the civil war to the Communists. To placate and explain away CCP brutality on Chinese people and society, and ignores the fact that they destroys Chinese culture during the decades of cultural revolution does not make CCP the face of China. But your ignorance obviously being well played into their hand, just like many ignorant Westerners sympathize with CCP because of its exotic and different cultures. “Wow, they’re different so they must have their reasons!” No, we are all humans, and the Chinese are not any different! We all need Freedom of speech and religion and human rights. Just like any human on the planet deserve too. Thank you!
Hi Simming, I happened upon your posts when you were traipsing around Europe on a personal voyage of discovery. Your youth, beauty, intelligence and upbeat personality were and are infectious and you proved to be a delightul tour guide, occasionally stumbling upon spots I had visited decades earlier. I became a "China watcher" when Deng visited the US, donned a cowboy hat, and took the country by storm. People forget, it was long ago, but he was a bonafide Rock Star here and had a huge impact on China, US and global relations. Many years have passed, many ups and downs occured the world over, I was lucky to have many Chinese friends over the past 45 years and they enriched my life in many ways. It is now for bright young people like you in China, the US, Europe and the world to foster greater understanding and lead our somewhat crazy planet to an ever improving future. Keep up the good work, Siming.🌈
Your destiny, Siming, is to write books about China in the style you suggest. It would be immensely helpful for Western people to have access to a more balanced, nuanced book to offset the simplistic anti-China narrative we are fed daily by the mainstream media. Why are there so few intelligent people like you, Siming?
@Dr-Jonathan-Sarfati-FM While you are right that on the one hand we need material that is free from "fear they might disappear without trial for criticising Xi or the CCP", it also needs to be free from the simplistic narrative the western media feed us where almost everything we hear about China is negative.
WOW! Thanks Siming. You've certainly given the viewer a lot to think about. While I am not a scholar of Chinese culture or politics (but am fascinated with and very curious about it), you've certainly provided me with more than enough homework. I was fortunate to have visited Chengdu before the pandemic, and I fell in love with China.
Thank you for this review of various books about China. I will certainly be adding some of them to my own virtual library. I've only read one book of those you reviewed and have come to quite a different conclusion about it. Although I found parts of "Party of One" interesting, particularly the early life and rise of Xi JinPing as well as the discussion of presidential succession at the end of the book, I felt that on the whole the book reflected a dogmatic Western perspective, even though the author himself is Singaporean. It is clear that he doesn't like Xi, which is OK, that's his right, but he has very little good to say about China as a whole. When he wrote about China's history of the last 40 years he mostly spun it negatively, giving no credit where credit is due. On the whole, I found the author has a very strong anti-China bias typical of so many Western journalists.
thanks for this Bob, i appreciate your highlight on what he clearly lacks and the prejudice he placed on his voice, although i didn't empathise this limit. i tried to focus on the merit i know viewers could learn from, as many aren't aware of the 'dogmatic western perspective', as you mentioned. and by highlighting what's good (first) and then the limit people can form a more holistic view of what the pattern looks like. i hope that makes sense!
The author has to put an overall negative image on China, or it would be a difficult mental gymnastic to say a lot of great things have happened in China but the leaders were bad 😂
The best author i have ever read who've written about Maoist China is Gao Mobo. With ackowledging the position Mao had in the great leap forward, especially in the beginning, he points to the historical evidence that mao during the leap became one of the voices to slow it down because of the famines, which was a minority position within the party.
I would strongly recommend you pick up the books by Peter Hessler: River Town; Oracle Bones; Country Driving. They are a bit old by now, mostly discussing his time in China from the mid-90s to perhaps 2010, but they are exceedingly well written and display a very tender, understanding and loving view of the various people he got to know during that time, often migrants and people outside the major cities; and of China as a whole. Though a bit old, they all describe a very important period in modern China, a time of great upheaval, when there was great optimism and also great uncertainty. At least look them up online.
Thank you for an insightful review of these books on China. I especially appreciated your introduction in which you told us how your bias would affect the results. That is a much more effective way to present material than to pretend you have no bias. Also, your statements about China in the post-WWII era ring true with what I have read about that period in the Far East. The U. S. bears some blame for the way things turned out. Many American advisors recognized Mao's strengths - especially as compared to Chiang's - and recommended we support him. The U. S. did not listen to them and the rest, as they say, is history.
I would like to recommend :"One identity too many" Lecture by Prof. Wang Gungwu . The lecture is quite long, if one don't have the patience, simply go to the Q & A section. He is very knowledgable about all the conflict and problem we have today.
Thank you for these book references along with your other vids! I am writing, of all things, a superhero story where one of the characters is from Urumqi and need to research home life and the region so it isn’t completely obvious that I have never been to China. All the best and thank you for your very articulate and thoughtful vids! I plan to pick up One Child based on your recommendation.
@@SimingLan thanks! I wish such a tourist trip was in the foreseeable future, but one can always hope. Btw, I have almost finished One Child based on your recommendation. Utterly heartbreaking.
Some who speaks with such sincere intelligence is utterly beautiful - beyond the obvious physical beauty. Openmindedness increasing, video after video, always on that quest for authentic balance.
Thanks for this great overview! I would also add Keyu Jin’s book, the New China Playbook as worth reading to get a good Chinese perspective of China’s economic development and difference in culture from the West. Tao Wang’s book Making sense of China’s Economy also great although a bit more academic and purely on economics. Thanks for your interesting videos and nuanced reflections!
Thanks for the book recommendations. This probably will also give me more knowledge about China. Although I realised, a lot of these types of authors still are not completely honest with their material, but I will probably still give them a chance so I get to see and learn about China, then visit and live in China once again for a while to form my own opinions.
26:03 "China does want to dominate, it does want to be the rule-maker of the new world, and then export non-liberal values." On what basis do some people say this? Can they provide historical precedents? Throughout its history, China has never sought world dominance. Guess who has. Rome, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, France, Great Britain, America. China has never tried to export its political values. Guess who has. USA ("freedom and democracy"). China respects all nations. It does not interfere in their politics. China only wants to trade with them.
China is a great country because it's more focused on building the country rather than telling people to be communist or to focus on some LGBT nonsense and other unnecessary things. They want to build china and help other countries to build up. But America doesn't want other country to compete with them,if you are a zero country,they want you to be zero forever that's the difference between china and Europe and USA.
@Dr-Jonathan-Sarfati-FM Dr,there is no morality in the international system. Every country will did what china did but with different approach. When Trump was not willing with terrorists,he build a wall or something to prevent Mexicans from going to America Illegally and to bring in drugs and weapons. I won't touch on Taiwan but the Tibet,yes they used hostile approach to achieve a goal,now those there are living like every normal country.
@Dr-Jonathan-Sarfati-FM Tibet and Taiwan have been part of China _for centuries._ Just look at a map of the Qing Empire. This is no different than USA's annexation of Hawaii and Texas. Protecting territorial integrity is the fundamental right of all nations. That's all the PRC has done since its founding. Like I said, you can't compare China to USA and Europe when it comes to world dominance.
China's education system ... "doesn't encourage a lot of critical thinking and having genuine curiosity about the world." Now I realise why the outputs from this system are so beloved as employees by contemporary presidents and vice-chancellors of western universities.
Prof. Kishore in a discussion gave his personal experience (more or less) regarding the joke between China (one party) and a democratic country (many parties),,, where it is absolute and cannot be changed for his party, while legislative policies follow the changes of time and generation.. On the other hand, in countries with many parties, legal policies are absolute/unchangeable -> when a party is in power, that party can make policy...
Very good analysis, detail, fair & comprehensive way of looking at these books. I like your video with your style to provide direct & clear way of sharing your experience and point of views. You asked for book recommendation: I would like to propose book "George Yeo: Musings". He is retired Singapore Minister, politician that had always been said to be the "China whisperer" for his knowledge of China. Recently he shared with Europeans to think of CCP like the Vatican and couple more. I would be interested to know your perspective on his book, his views.
Very insightful, thank you. I have read only one of the referenced books, the Long Haul, which for me, it was in as much as it took awhile for me to slog through it. In your stereotyping of foreigners in China, one must be careful to conclude that just because one does not agree whole heartedly with a “Chinese” mindset, that one is closed minded. I suspect I would definitely be placed in that second tier, not because, I think my views are better, but because I feel looked down upon for holding different views which I see as neither better nor worse, but merely different. Bottom line, looks like I have some more reading to do.
For Desmond Shan, I would prefer the use of the word incongruent rather than inconsistent. Since I never read his book I am unable to comment on whether he is consistent or not, i.e., does he recognise or fail to recognise his privileged position which allowed him to obtain his wealth.
I'm glad I discovered your channel. An authentic take by a Chinese person is rare to find within Western media. Thanks. Looking forward to hearing more.
HI Siming, nice to see you back. You have to understand that all of western academia, publishing and journalism serves the same ideological masters. These people have a mindset that is so self centered and delusional that they can not fundamentally understand anything other than their own perspective and viewpoint. I have observed this since I was in high school reading such called reputable rags like the Economist etc. If the story is not negative about China they simply would not get published. My recent realization is this purposeful myopic reporting was not restricted only to China but to the rest of the world outside of so called "western world". With the rise of the internet, much of the lies of the western fifth estate has become exposed and thus the near collapse and low opinion of all mainstream news organization in the west - from TV to newspaper etc. The main consumers of mainstream news and the academic books you cite are the same group of people spewing this misinfo lies and delusions. The tragic result is these "elites" of the west by propping each other up through "fake degrees" (because they have no real world value) from Ivy League colleges have a complete distorted view of how the real world works and then goes on to advise the consult "leaders" on geo-economic policy. The disastrous results is being played out right before our eyes. To cite just a few paradigm shifting events these past two years resulting from delusional western academic thinking - the military debacle of NATO proxy army in Ukraine, the completely failed attempt to restrain China's technological economic development, the ascendency of BRICS, Africa, and the Global South, and the deepening economic crisis in all the western countries with no light at the end of the tunnel. All these were the direct result of policy based on complete misunderstanding and I would say delusional thinking of how the world works. "Party of One" is very representative of this mindset. RE "Party of One" you just need to read resume of Chun Han Wong - "prominent Wall Street Journal" reporter, "Pulitzer Prize finalist" to know it is trash. You do not get these "accolades" by "rocking the boat". The confirmation is in the summary of of book "people misread Xi..that he would steer China toward more political openness, rule of law and pro-market economics", how Xi "centralized power, encouraged cult of personality around himself" "favors political zeal over technical expertise, trumpets its faith in Marxism" I ask you Siming, you are in China, is Xi's portrait in every house and government building? This rag of a book is pure lies and projection. As political censorship increase almost daily in all western countries, cancel culture is the norm for any thought outside of western government approved narratives. Illegal unilateral sanctions on half the world. Absolutely ideology trumps technical ability in the west, just look at military industrial economic failure of west due to delusional ideological mindset. This book is the standard typical NY Times bestseller expose of China. Excuse the vulgarness but it is one big intellectual circle jerk. Love your content and effort to share the Chinese mindset of the people of China. There is no need to apologize for China or pander to western sensibilities. Any westerner who does not get it by now never will.
I have been reading One Child because of this video and am finding it very impactful. Thank you for the recommendation-since I am new to understanding the nuances here, your perspective is really appreciated.
Great video! Loved seeing your perspective on these books. Have you ever talked about or plan to talk about China's relation with Brazil? Thoughts on BRICS and what that means to the Chinese people?
the blend of BEAUTY - INTELLIGENCE - AND SPIRT is a blessing to experience -- I look forward to your inevitable shift from mind to deep heart over the next several years ... age creates deeper beauty --- keep GOING and thank you. It's a BREATH of FRESH AIR to watch you.
Hi Siming. A really great presentation and overview of your opinions on some interesting books. One point to capture on Western opinions is that science and colonialism have created a museum like categorisation of foreign cultures by Western authors, sometimes given the name 'orientalism' - based on Edward Said's writings. From your list, I have read books by Shum, Dikotter and articles by Doshi. I originally came to 'China studies' by reading Jung Chang's Wild Swans. I regard her as one of history's greatest story tellers, with a great inside perspective on China from Qing Dynasty up till Mao. Maybe the only way to understand China in the end is through a non attached 'love'. China is deeply imperfect, but incredibly beautiful and these 2 aspects have to be fully accepted and integrated before a holistic perspective can emerge! The political is not the personal and the real strength of a culture can only be seen through its everyday people! 👍🏻🔥🌠
Excellent analysis of the books! Also, thank you for your personal aspects directly and open to your vulnerabilities when the writer makes you uncomfortable. ❤
Great review of some books I need to read which are now on my ‘to-read’ list! I think to understand China’s present and future we need to understand its past, especially the ‘century of humiliation’ and its impact on where China is today. One of the best books I’ve read on the origins of this humiliation is Stephen R. Platt’s ‘Imperial Twilight’ which I found riveting. Books at the more recent end of the spectrum I’ve read in the last year or two are John Keay’s ‘China - A History’, Kishore Mahbubani’s ‘Has China Won?’, and Henry Kissinger’s ‘On China’. Wang Anyi’s ‘Song of Everlasting Sorrow’ is a real gem 💎 which makes me wish my hanzi was better than it is (I’m told the English translation is good but not a patch on the original), and some of Eileen Chang’s work is definitely worthwhile 📖📚 I just watched the video you posted today. Keep up the good work 💪🏻😊🎷
What might be interesting is to include criticism for each book by other writers/scholars. That could give you better insight from a more experienced and learned perspective. Also remember these books are part of an industry producing material for a market with a specific audience in mind. You're not going to find that much deviation from the set narrative about China, they wouldn't sell well for a reason. Personally I keep well away from mainstream publications and look directly for scholarship in more critical fields like postcolonial and decolonial theory. I'm not a student or academic so my recommendation for an easily relatable and illuminating read: Colonial Temporality & Chinese national modernization discourses by Marius Meinhof. Please don't be scared off by the title, it's actually something that a lot of people recognise in everyday life but don't quite know how to articulate. I hope this German scholar scores better than the one in your review! 😊
Good point. Some of these western so called "scholars" are basically paid by the political class to write narratives that justify their imperialist lust for conquering countries like China (any country that has not yet given the keys to its government over to Washington DC). DEmonizing China in the eyes of ordinary people is important in preventing opposition to the war on China that neo-conservatives in Washington desire so keenly. A war we might see rapidly approach now that the Empire's project in Ukraine has been foiled by Russia.
Yuan Shikai, last imperial Chinese prime minister, came to New York and bewildered to see big buildings. When he went to Empire State he asked why his room is so small? It was just the elevator . Now PRC have the world’s 2nd largest building after burj.
I just discovered your channel. You are doing a great job in presenting your ideas in English. However, I think you can do more than translating Chinese government's propaganda or standard views about China into the English context. That is, actually making a synthesis from both sides of the opinions, and arrive at new propositions.
your bookreview... I found it quite.. informative. Also about your topics of interest, and your public persona. Youdr British accent is quite impressive, you seem to be ambitious and a person, who is on a definite path of making your life exceptional in your own way. Did you read books by Cixin Liu? If yes, did you find them worthwhile?
OMG, your so Intelligent articulate....I could listen to you talk all day.. plus that accent is a killer, soooooo darling 💕❤️🥰. keep up the great work 👍🇨🇳👏
China is a Socialist country with a market sector or simply put, Market Socialist. Communism is stage of development which lies far beyond socialism and socialism is therefore a stepping stone towards communism. Despite having this market sector China is still a true Socialist state as socialism is an economic system where the means of production (privately or publicly owned) are operated in accordance with socialist state central planning to benefit the country as a whole rather than simply existing to enrich private owners or in other words capitalism.
These authoritarian systems love to create dribble to justify their own existence, similar to religion. Through ideology you try to justify the dictatorial system of the communist party in China. It’s just creative writing. One man one vote in a representative system has the highest likelihood of leading to the best outcomes for the most amount of citizens. Accountability to the people is the only way man has found to keep those that rule over them in check, and liberal democracy has the best track record for operationalising this.
I still have doubts about what video ideas I can recommend for you, maybe something more social/political? That said, perhaps you should address how certain ethnicities behave in China's socio-political environment, such as Manchus (the ethnic group that came to govern China and that today seem to have "disappeared"), Mongols (an ethnic group that comes from an empire foreign and invaded China). And I should address Tibet, which for a long time was the focus of Western criticism of China, but today it seems to have diminished a lot. A recommendation for a book would be: The Story of China: A portrait of a civilisation and its people - Michael Wood.
Thank you for your high quality video , as a Chinese , wish make some Chinese content , that can make more Chinese see ,and can you make some China versus the West video in your view，and what do you think about immigration，thank you
Hi Siming, thank your for your nuanced insights. You mentioned the social credit system in passing. Is this not a real thing? Would like to hear your thoughts about this. For those of us outside China, it is a sure sign of authoritarianism gone haywire.
"For those of us outside China, it is a sure sign of authoritarianism gone haywire." This just proves how a one-party state system isn't necessary at all to disseminate "Orwellian" propaganda among the masses about the "enemy" governments they're in a "great power conflict" with, geopolitically and economically. PolyMatter's video on China's "social credit system" does a good job of demolishing the narrative about it being some dystopian system of social control or whatever, PolyMatter is still very charitable to the US government and its corporate media and very much critical of the Chinese government, so just so you know, he doesn't have a pro-China bias.
As a leader of a nation, if one cannot ensure the people's safety from fear and gun-related robberies, I believe that is not a good leader or a place of happiness. I am fortunate that most East Asian countries have achieved this, including Greater China and Singapore.
Anyone with an elementary knowledge of Chinese history knows famines were frequent and regular through all Chinese history, for millenia. The famines and misery of the century of humilation though is probably only matched by the invasion of the mongols. It was during MAo's era that the famines came to an end and there haven't been any since, though some over parts of the post-colonial global south do still suffer famines. But we can't believe our own eyes that CPC stopped famines in China so the Western propoganda industry had to invent a terrifying myth for western audiences demonising the "cOmMunIsTs". With practically zero physical evidence the Mao Famine Myth was created by US scholars, like the Holodomor myth and now we can add the Uyghur genocide myth to the literary genre i call "communist atrocity porn". In reality under communism new agricultural methods were developed including things like hybrid rice that radically increase crop yields- developments censored in the west because only bad things can be told about China.
I really enjoy your updates and I love how articulate you are in English. I met many Chinese friends while studying at University of Cambridge and had a Chinese gf from Xi’an while there. She is the reason I’ve read widely around Chinese history and culture for several years and have been learning Mandarin for four years (I’m now dreaming in Mandarin 💭🤭). I’m very excited to hear about these books you’ve reviewed and will certainly check them all out. My personal favourites are: ‘Imperial Twilight’ by Stephen Platt; ‘Has China Won’ by Kishore Mahbubani; ‘Song of Everlasting Sorrow’ by Wang Anyi; ‘The Rape of Nanjing’ by Iris Chang; and many of Eileen Chang’s works 📚📖✍️ Please keep up the good work. I’m always happy when I see you’ve posted a new video 🎥🍿😊
Thank you for the video and the effort you put it in! I've been an avid "China watcher" (as you call it :D) for around 4 years now. I'm pretty cynical when it comes to western book about China. I would dismiss and judge people who actually read those as being "propagandized", your video kind of humbled me in some way. I respect very much your willingness to try to find the good everywhere, that's pretty incredible. In the "We have been harmonized" book you mention that they downplay / mock Chinese successes, wasn't it the case for all the books you read? For me it's hard to imagine a western book giving China a real tribute about something (ie poverty alleviation). You characterize Mao as narcissistic, where does that come from? It's very interesting to me because I'd imagine that something that sets you apart from a lot of people in China right? I think, given your interest in politics and China it would make sense to explore more on the question set by the book in 26:00 in your next videos. Would love a series on that. Cheers!
Western media has many views on China. Only very recently has a common narrative come through. Ccp media on the other hand says one thing. America is bad and has been saying that for a few years now.
Hello, I'd like to comment on the thing about Mao as narcissistic, first of all, Mao is not only a leader, but also a very good poet, one with at least four sets of romantic relations with women. I can imagin someone that powerful and yet full of wiz to be a bit narcissistic and attractive to women. Mao is a very special human being, one of a kind, evil or not, he is not like any other man. So to put it a mild way, people worship him, if he wasn't against it, it would make him a bit marcissistic, don't you think?
I love how captivating you are with your initial "compliments" to the writing, how forgiving about books' "drawbacks" and how insisting on that there are no facts - only points of view)) You are great at keeping a positive attitude and showing wisdom to people who accuse your country that you live in and the government that you work for (okay, maybe indirectly) in taking away people's rights and freedom) I am fascinated by you!
What other ways are there to think about politics? Is it not a always choicing between personal freedom and societial order/homogeneity? I fully accept an autocracy is the most effeicent form of government. It is a very tricky problem. What makes a good society? If states had their original autonomy, we would have many expressions of good and poeple could choose what society is best.
Siming, would it possible that you could add a Chinese (simplified) translation to your videos。 It would be a great help for me。 I enjoy your opinions/ viewpoints and topics very much。 from m。
I think it is very wrong to conclude that China's education system does not encourage creativity and curiosity about the world. China today is a world leader in science and technology. Space exploration is perhaps the best example of this...China's landing on the far side of the moon...China's landing of a rover on Mars...China's construction of the Tiangong space station. According to the *CWTS Leiden Ranking 2023,* most of the universities that produce the most scientifically impactful research are Chinese - that’s 16 out of the top 25 universities! According to the *Nature Index 2022 Big 5 science nations’* Top Rising 100 science institutions, the Top 23 rising institutions are all Chinese! And 41 out of the Top 50 rising institutions are Chinese! (Seven are American, two are British, and two are German.) When we look at the *Nature Index’s* top institutions ordered by research output, we note that 11 of the Top 25 institutions are Chinese (7 are American). In total, 20 of the Top 50 institutions are Chinese (19 are American). In other words, there is a heck of a lot of good scientific research being done in China. In general, Chinese universities match or exceed the best Western universities. In terms of creativity and innovation, China leads the world in 37 out of 44 technological fields, according to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. The list of Chinese innovations is literally endless.
The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST; Chinese: 五百米口径球面射电望远镜), nicknamed Tianyan (天眼, lit. "Sky's/Heaven's Eye"), is a radio telescope located in the Dawodang depression (大窝凼洼地), a natural basin in Pingtang County, Guizhou, southwest China. This is absolutely wonderful for radio astronomy!
@@kc10man The point is that China is very advanced in space exploration surpassing the United States in many respects. Many other countries have space programs too but they are quite far behind.
Yes, that's my take, too. The rap on the Chinese education system is that it is all rote learning that produces great memorizers and copiers but not much independent or critical thinking. Indeed, as one who taught in China for a number of years that was also my impression. For example, I had students who cheated on exam essay questions by memorizing entire articles from American magazines, but then I see some amazing technical breakthroughs such as HuaWei's world-beating chip developed in record time in response to American sanctions and have had to rethink a lot of what I thought I knew. Maybe all that memorization doesn't impede imaginative and critical thinking after all.
Fantastic Channel! Do you feel that you have to censor your own thoughts before expressing them in a video, as they might cause a backlash from the Chinese government? Thank you from Germany
I think she nuances it very well and her methods to explain China to the West are far more superior than the politicians of both sides have had in trying to understand one another. Her videos are very pro China and they should honestly give her an award. It takes significant education and cultural experiences to be able to articulate things in such a manner. I think articulation is the key here, as many chinese people feel the same but are unable to articulate it as well as her. Same explaination goes towards Western views of China as much of it is what has been poorly splashed across mainstream media.
@@mr.nobody3660 so if she can talk about these books that are not published in china is the censorship on china a myth or is she lucky that the party is not aware of her?
@@georgzwiebel9585 it's not completely a "myth" but is highly exaggerated, and if the Chinese government were that concerned about what individuals, especially RUclipsrs, say about China to the foreign audience, they would have assassinated laowhy86 and serpentza by now.
The question to ask when thinking about deaths under communism - is would other forms of government prevented that? Although, I am beginning to think the world view (religion) of the people has big impact on society.
I liked this. I would read all of the books if I wasn't banned from our local library for filing sexual harassment complaints against a man dressing like a woman who worked for them. No lie, but I was smart enough to get a short copy of the books I read and liked before I was ousted. So, I recommend to you "Nature embodied: gesture in ancient Rome" by Anthony Corbell to discover a take on the power war between China and the U.S. and others. Be sure to read the footnotes because there is a lot of good stuff in the small writing. Overall, for me, it is good to hear you work through what you hear as bias in others because it points out any naivete and bias in me. I will add your books to my book wish list.
Hahahaha you really went and read all those trashy a** books on china just to be fair to them, I have to respect the commitment and speaks for your integrity on research, reminds me of this one Mao quote - "No investigation, no right to speak" and you have gained that right
I just found this channel. Currently binge watching all the videos. It’s hard to find someone who don’t hate China in the west including japan where I live 🐏. Can anyone share other RUclipsrs who think like her? Thanks
This is a great set of book reviews. But I wish that Siming Lan would tell us what she thinks of Xi's vision for Chinese society. What does she think Xi wants China to be like in, say, 20 years, how does she approve or disapprove, and does she think that he will achieve these goals? My impression is that she is censoring herself here, either she stops herself from thinking about them, or does have thoughts but has decided not to present them in public. Also, for understanding China, let me recommend the book The Center of the World by Robert S. Elegant.
Edgar Snow's 《Red Star Over China》 is a record description of the Communist Party in Yan'an before the founding of the People's Republic of China by government professionals. James Bradley's 《The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia》talks about Westerners' illusion of China becoming a disaster that affects the United States. I think wrong information should be marginalized. Reading these books that stereotype China is a waste of time. If you have this time, you might as well read reference books to improve productivity.
Thanks for the recommendations, it's really interesting to see the perspective of a Chinese person on these types of books. I wanted to point out that a German author could very well have lived in a socialist country (people tend to forget the GDR sometimes), though after looking him up Kai Strittmatter is from the FRG, so that's not really relevant here. Edit: What is your big criticism of "One Child" ? When you were talking about the book you seemed a lot more positive than the three star rating would suggest.
you spotted! yeah, mainly because the storytelling went flat in the middle for something i am so familiar with. but that might not be the same for someone who doesn't know, so my issue is less relevant for its merit
I strongly disagree with the view stating Chinese students do not have great critical thinking. I does not correspond to my experience teaching in Chinese universities.
timestamps didn't show on the video, so i thought i put it here:
Intro 0:37
Party of One 3:39
One Child 6:29
The People's Republic of Amnesia 9:49
We Have Been Harmonised 12:27
Mao's Great Famine 15:02
The Truth about China 18:50
Red Roulette 22:37
The Long Game 25:11
Chit chat 28:05
A great video. Thx so much!
Your video was amazing. I appreciate you giving a summary of the book and then your opinion. It is good to give your opinion while also using personal anecdotes and other facts. It would be interesting if you viewed the Twitter accounts of the respective authors. Some of these authors may be spokespeople or reporters for news agencies in the West which may give more of an insight on how they view China and other countries.
Lazy , single cell minded like paramecium and pathetic people will choose to bash China as it is the easiest way to gain support, views and money. It is just like the simple rules of doing good with expecting any return of favour or reward are tough but condemning, blasphemy, false accusation, BS etc are the easiest to achieve.
Loved the video. I wouldn't pick up these books to read in the first place, but your summary was so pleasant/fascinating to hear.
Anti China books
About Tienanmen. US analysts rarely mention that the protesters were no a solid bloc of peaceful people. Like in all "organized" political protests there were agitators doing violence against state properties and police forces. Event some foreign journalists feared for their health because of the burst of violence that often explode from the crowd.
US officials, like Nancy Pelosi in 1991, made public relation stunt by going to visit the Tienanmen square with western news coverage. I wonder what those US analysts would say if a foreign political figure like Dmitry Medvedev make a visit to the US Capitol with Russian news coverage to comemorate the January 6 2021 events of the MAGA protesters.
The Chinese people have forgoten about the events of Tienanmen square of 1989 that the US journalists will never forget. The same way that the American people have forgoten about the Weapons of Mass Destruction of Irak in 2003 that the rest of the world journalists will never forget.
"Tiananmen" is a Western & CIA "failed" Color Revolution against Chinese government.
天安门事件仅仅过去了30年，大部分中国人都经历了并且知道发生了什么。我们并不是故意遗忘或不被允许讨论，只是我们已经想通了，觉得没有多少讨论的意义。
当时中国经历从苏联式的计划经济向西方的市场经济转型，这种巨大的改变必然带来混乱。由于转型缺乏经验，中共政府的很多制度和规则都不够完善。一些人借机做了很多坏事，政府官僚腐败严重。民众期初仅仅想表达自己的诉求，既政府要维持公正、廉洁、稳定的社会环境，要解决这些严重的社会问题。而当时距离文革结束仅仅过去了十多年，百姓仍习惯使用文革式的群众运动来表达诉求。更有很多投机分子看到了机会，他们以为可以像文革时的造反派那样，通过利用群众运动来快速获得政治地位，颠覆当前的当权者。这些投机分子煽动群众情绪，鼓动暴力，试图扩大给政府的压力来制造自己的筹码。
这些事情其实在前社会主义国家几乎都上演过。西方媒体惊喜地进行了全面的报道，将其形容为人民的觉醒，将暴力分子形容为民主自由的领袖。对于颜色革命，当时的中国领导人没有清醒的认识，所以邓小平撤换了软弱的赵紫阳、胡耀邦。民众希望所有的问题在一夜之间解决是不可能的事情，事情需要一件一件的去做，而所有一切的前提，就是国家的稳定。邓小平对文革的感触很深，非常明白这个国家不能再这样乱哄哄的折腾下去了。所以采用铁腕手段对天安门进行了镇压，但并没有发生什么所谓的大屠杀，任何一个执政党都知道如果发生这样的事情会造成怎样的后果，这是得不偿失的。
江泽民在上海对这次运动的处理方式更为温和，这得到了邓小平的赏识。当然江最终进入中南海并不仅仅因为这一点，还包括他的工程师背景、年龄等等。但他对这种运动坚决的态度，和对社会改革开放的姿态，都是邓十分赏识的，江直到晚年也为此而自豪。
总体而言，中共在后来的几十年中，通过连贯的政策，强大的执行力和不放弃的毅力，一个一个地解决了各种社会问题。面对客观的成果，以及与当年同时期被西方进行颜色革命的国家对比，比如俄罗斯、乌克兰，甚至是与同时期差不多起点的民主国家对比，比如印度，中国的民众已经逐渐明白当年是自己太过于心急。所以这几十年，民众已经重建了对中共的信任，并不再讨论这些没有意义的历史。那更像是一段愚蠢、悲伤的青春故事，大家都犯了错，但我们走过来了，我们会继续向前看。
而西方不厌其烦地提及这段历史，似乎更多的是因为他们没有多少能论述关于自由与专治、民主与独裁这样话题的案例。他们只能不停重复大跃进、文革、天安门、新疆、西藏、香港、台湾......巴拉巴拉。一个衰老的巨人，回忆着往日的荣光，不停地念叨着对手过去的错误来安慰自己，麻痹自己，从而避免面对恐怖的现实。悲哀。
So true，Especially those political opportunists who push naive students forward, yet still flee to the United States early and spread rumors indiscriminately afterwards. I really feel nauseous.@@GGY-yh6li
@@GGY-yh6li The South Korean people haven’t forgotten the lessons of the Gwangju incident. As the saying goes, “A nation that forgets its history has no future". Hong Kong people are no longer allowed to commemorate 4 June.
@@GGY-yh6li 说了一大堆，还是用惯用的帅锅阴谋论来给当时的腐败洗地。独裁政权永远需要一个假想敌才能维持，这是客观事实。最后一句话也暴露了你真实用意，也暴露这个民族本质，永远不会反思，永远甩锅
Thanks for sharing your reactions to all those books. I am a very busy school teacher and don't have time to read them. I am an expat American. I have began living in Chinese culture since 1998 and when I first looked around I thought I was more advanced than the people here. It took me about ten years to realize that I had lonly been looking at things from "America colored glasses." later I decided that there were many things that Americans should learn from China about how to live in a peaceful, cooperative society. I returned to the USA in 2017 and thought about trying to tell them that. After I got there I realized that there is no one who would listen. Perhaps some time you could make a video about what Americans need to learn from Chinese culture. If they could learn to trust each other without having a gun within arms reach, if they could learn cooperation rather than individualism, if they could drop all their paranoia of anything non-American perhaps they could live in decent peaceful society and overturn the epidemic of violence that has taken over the country. I feel safer and that life is much more meaningful now that I back in Chinese culture. Looking forward to your next video!
Thank you for sharing your experiences and perspective. I live in Canada and have around me many people of Chinese descent.. and I can tell you that Chinese people often look at things in a very nuanced, pragmatic and multifaceted way. You are right, western societies can learn a lot from Chinese culture. But that would never happen.
As a European who has lived for over 20 years in Hong Kong I also resonate with what you say here. I also would initially filter everything I saw through my cultural lenses and I saw that other foreigners would do the same. Like you, it also took me many years to start seeing through my lenses, which not only revealed more and more what chinese culture was, but also told me much about my own culture.
Now that I'm back to my home country I find the same difficulties you describe, and it's very hard to communicate the complexities of such discoveries in a few minutes when talking to people who never lived elsewhere.
Step 1 - turn off the TV and switch on the brain.
Step 2 - Travel abroad
Step 3 - Listen more
Or you could go to Denmark, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, or New Zealand to experience that. The case of lack of peacefulness with guns is a quite American phenomena. We do have our bad areas and countries in the rest of west when it comes to that, but some are also peaceful.
Do you know CHiina has baanned Yooutube, Gmail, Gooogle?
What's your response?
Great. I started knowing China's culture by watching Pula Muralha's RUclips channel. A Chinese girl comes to Brazil to teach and marries a Brazilian guy. Eventually, the girl started her channel for a Brazilian audience. No politics, just showing her family, food, places, and how life is in China. In conclusion, human beings are equal everywhere. And discovered Chinese people could be very nice, everybody struggling to succeed, like you and me. I love your videos. Politicians, also, are equal everywhere...
I was born in Shanghai but grew up here in the states. My mom also was pregnant with a second child but we could not afford the fine. She chose to have an abortion. When I was younger I carried all the current western views and criticized China on nearly everything. However after 2 trips visiting China in 2012 and then 2018. My views completely changed. I started to read and learn more about the problems the Chinese government tried to solve and the solutions available to them at the time. I must say, as a western raised person, I have a default habit of looking at things from a moral standpoint. Or rather I am taught to look at only the process. While the Chinese care way more about the result. And, you cannot argue with the result. If there was no 1 child policy, China's economy in the 80's and 90's was not strong enough to support a few hundred million more ppl. The country would have collapsed into chaos. Without the huqo system, you would get Indian style ghettos in major cities. I can go on and on. The thing I tried to explain to my friends here in the states, (those who are willing to listen and be open minded about building a bridge between 2 cultures) is this. You cannot judge the actions of China until you fully understand the circumstances, the problems, and the available solutions to China. While the west would have approached these daunting problems differently, the same solutions are not possible in China.
The typical western way of thinking towards China is “put all the context aside, at this moment, I think this (a particular issue) is BAD! Thus China is BAD.” You just cannot talk with them.
So you need to be the world's second worst dictatorship (after N. Korea) to 'solve' problems as a government? I'm just trying to understand how that is related, and the "problems" only got worse and worse and have added up in 15 years.
That is one point you pointed out, and I totally agree with that, another I think should be that, this world was once dominated by the collective west, that's true, but the west is not the only party exist in this world, even when it comes to like moral standpoint that you mentioned, what standard should it be? The western one, or some others'? Not just the Chinese, I think the whole global south has been really tired of the west pointing at others' noses and tell them what to do and not to.
@@thhanh1003 So your system of logic is so amazingly flawed that you couldn't figure out what amount of info that's missing before anyone could even conclude and that it is much easier to jump to conclusions? Great.
Obviously you don’t know much about China and was bought into seeing the “surfaces“ of things about China like countless Westerners singing praises on China because of it’s huge difficulties and accomplishments, well played into the CCP’s narratives, just like this channel.
As a Taiwanese and steep into Chinese culture and history, we all know too well about the United Front of the CCP, which was served to bring alignment of the enemy thoughts into the folds of the CCP narratives and how it wants itself to present to the world. You are obviously a clueless fish that has been turned around by the CCP.
Look, human right and free speech are universal, which means apply for all human society and cultures because it is human nature. Taiwan offers an alternative of what Chinese society may look like in a democracy because it is also a society steeped in Chinese culture. You can also look at other Asian societies such as Korea or Japan. We all have similar cultures and we don’t have to run the society like the CCP does. In fact, many Chinese oppose the CCP rule, and that’s why the KMT retreats to Taiwan after losing the civil war to the Communists. To placate and explain away CCP brutality on Chinese people and society, and ignores the fact that they destroys Chinese culture during the decades of cultural revolution does not make CCP the face of China. But your ignorance obviously being well played into their hand, just like many ignorant Westerners sympathize with CCP because of its exotic and different cultures. “Wow, they’re different so they must have their reasons!” No, we are all humans, and the Chinese are not any different! We all need Freedom of speech and religion and human rights. Just like any human on the planet deserve too. Thank you!
Hi Simming, I happened upon your posts when you were traipsing around Europe on a personal voyage of discovery. Your youth, beauty, intelligence and upbeat personality were and are infectious and you proved to be a delightul tour guide, occasionally stumbling upon spots I had visited decades earlier. I became a "China watcher" when Deng visited the US, donned a cowboy hat, and took the country by storm. People forget, it was long ago, but he was a bonafide Rock Star here and had a huge impact on China, US and global relations. Many years have passed, many ups and downs occured the world over, I was lucky to have many Chinese friends over the past 45 years and they enriched my life in many ways. It is now for bright young people like you in China, the US, Europe and the world to foster greater understanding and lead our somewhat crazy planet to an ever improving future. Keep up the good work, Siming.🌈
Your destiny, Siming, is to write books about China in the style you suggest.
It would be immensely helpful for Western people to have access to a more balanced, nuanced book to offset the simplistic anti-China narrative we are fed daily by the mainstream media.
Why are there so few intelligent people like you, Siming?
@Dr-Jonathan-Sarfati-FM While you are right that on the one hand we need material that is free from "fear they might disappear without trial for criticising Xi or the CCP", it also needs to be free from the simplistic narrative the western media feed us where almost everything we hear about China is negative.
It is not easy to deeply understand both cultures, histories, philosophies, and then elaborate those spicy topics without biases.
Like a lot of the best channels, yours is incredibly underrated. Thanks this was a great video.
WOW! Thanks Siming. You've certainly given the viewer a lot to think about. While I am not a scholar of Chinese culture or politics (but am fascinated with and very curious about it), you've certainly provided me with more than enough homework. I was fortunate to have visited Chengdu before the pandemic, and I fell in love with China.
Thank you for this review of various books about China. I will certainly be adding some of them to my own virtual library.
I've only read one book of those you reviewed and have come to quite a different conclusion about it. Although I found parts of "Party of One" interesting, particularly the early life and rise of Xi JinPing as well as the discussion of presidential succession at the end of the book, I felt that on the whole the book reflected a dogmatic Western perspective, even though the author himself is Singaporean.
It is clear that he doesn't like Xi, which is OK, that's his right, but he has very little good to say about China as a whole. When he wrote about China's history of the last 40 years he mostly spun it negatively, giving no credit where credit is due. On the whole, I found the author has a very strong anti-China bias typical of so many Western journalists.
thanks for this Bob, i appreciate your highlight on what he clearly lacks and the prejudice he placed on his voice, although i didn't empathise this limit. i tried to focus on the merit i know viewers could learn from, as many aren't aware of the 'dogmatic western perspective', as you mentioned. and by highlighting what's good (first) and then the limit people can form a more holistic view of what the pattern looks like. i hope that makes sense!
The author has to put an overall negative image on China, or it would be a difficult mental gymnastic to say a lot of great things have happened in China but the leaders were bad 😂
The best author i have ever read who've written about Maoist China is Gao Mobo. With ackowledging the position Mao had in the great leap forward, especially in the beginning, he points to the historical evidence that mao during the leap became one of the voices to slow it down because of the famines, which was a minority position within the party.
Don't believe a word of these western journalists, I read a book once......
Everyone has got an opinion.....
The winner writes a good story......
Thanks! Great topics, keep it up.
Absolutely amazed by the video. The beginning especially, was literally speaking my mind that I myself cannot phrase correctly.
Thank you for this excellent video! I would be interested to hear your thoughts on books critiquing either US or China but from Chinese authors.
I would strongly recommend you pick up the books by Peter Hessler: River Town; Oracle Bones; Country Driving. They are a bit old by now, mostly discussing his time in China from the mid-90s to perhaps 2010, but they are exceedingly well written and display a very tender, understanding and loving view of the various people he got to know during that time, often migrants and people outside the major cities; and of China as a whole. Though a bit old, they all describe a very important period in modern China, a time of great upheaval, when there was great optimism and also great uncertainty. At least look them up online.
Thank you for an insightful review of these books on China. I especially appreciated your introduction in which you told us how your bias would affect the results. That is a much more effective way to present material than to pretend you have no bias. Also, your statements about China in the post-WWII era ring true with what I have read about that period in the Far East. The U. S. bears some blame for the way things turned out. Many American advisors recognized Mao's strengths - especially as compared to Chiang's - and recommended we support him. The U. S. did not listen to them and the rest, as they say, is history.
I would like to recommend :"One identity too many" Lecture by Prof. Wang Gungwu . The lecture is quite long, if one don't have the patience, simply go to the Q & A section. He is very knowledgable about all the conflict and problem we have today.
sounds really interesting! i'll check that out :)
Thank you for these book references along with your other vids! I am writing, of all things, a superhero story where one of the characters is from Urumqi and need to research home life and the region so it isn’t completely obvious that I have never been to China. All the best and thank you for your very articulate and thoughtful vids! I plan to pick up One Child based on your recommendation.
that's really cool! yeah i would definitely encourage you to come visit some time! have fun with writing and the reading!😊
@@SimingLan thanks! I wish such a tourist trip was in the foreseeable future, but one can always hope. Btw, I have almost finished One Child based on your recommendation. Utterly heartbreaking.
Just found this channel the other day and binged all the videos. They have been great on my journey to understanding china and I like your style :)
a big warm welcome!❤
The world needs more people like you to shine your light.
Some who speaks with such sincere intelligence is utterly beautiful - beyond the obvious physical beauty. Openmindedness increasing, video after video, always on that quest for authentic balance.
Thanks for this great overview! I would also add Keyu Jin’s book, the New China Playbook as worth reading to get a good Chinese perspective of China’s economic development and difference in culture from the West. Tao Wang’s book Making sense of China’s Economy also great although a bit more academic and purely on economics. Thanks for your interesting videos and nuanced reflections!
Thanks for the book recommendations. This probably will also give me more knowledge about China. Although I realised, a lot of these types of authors still are not completely honest with their material, but I will probably still give them a chance so I get to see and learn about China, then visit and live in China once again for a while to form my own opinions.
26:03 "China does want to dominate, it does want to be the rule-maker of the new world, and then export non-liberal values."
On what basis do some people say this? Can they provide historical precedents?
Throughout its history, China has never sought world dominance. Guess who has. Rome, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, France, Great Britain, America.
China has never tried to export its political values. Guess who has. USA ("freedom and democracy").
China respects all nations. It does not interfere in their politics. China only wants to trade with them.
Wow…I’m speechless at the willful avoidance of Chinese internal and foreign policy.
@@user-mp7xb9pv3l And what policies are those, exactly? I call bullshit.
China is a great country because it's more focused on building the country rather than telling people to be communist or to focus on some LGBT nonsense and other unnecessary things. They want to build china and help other countries to build up. But America doesn't want other country to compete with them,if you are a zero country,they want you to be zero forever that's the difference between china and Europe and USA.
@Dr-Jonathan-Sarfati-FM Dr,there is no morality in the international system. Every country will did what china did but with different approach. When Trump was not willing with terrorists,he build a wall or something to prevent Mexicans from going to America Illegally and to bring in drugs and weapons. I won't touch on Taiwan but the Tibet,yes they used hostile approach to achieve a goal,now those there are living like every normal country.
@Dr-Jonathan-Sarfati-FM Tibet and Taiwan have been part of China _for centuries._ Just look at a map of the Qing Empire.
This is no different than USA's annexation of Hawaii and Texas.
Protecting territorial integrity is the fundamental right of all nations. That's all the PRC has done since its founding.
Like I said, you can't compare China to USA and Europe when it comes to world dominance.
China's education system ... "doesn't encourage a lot of critical thinking and having genuine curiosity about the world." Now I realise why the outputs from this system are so beloved as employees by contemporary presidents and vice-chancellors of western universities.
Love your content!
Excellent analysis!❤❤❤
Prof. Kishore in a discussion gave his personal experience (more or less) regarding the joke between China (one party) and a democratic country (many parties),,, where it is absolute and cannot be changed for his party, while legislative policies follow the changes of time and generation.. On the other hand, in countries with many parties, legal policies are absolute/unchangeable -> when a party is in power, that party can make policy...
Very good analysis, detail, fair & comprehensive way of looking at these books. I like your video with your style to provide direct & clear way of sharing your experience and point of views.
You asked for book recommendation: I would like to propose book "George Yeo: Musings". He is retired Singapore Minister, politician that had always been said to be the "China whisperer" for his knowledge of China. Recently he shared with Europeans to think of CCP like the Vatican and couple more. I would be interested to know your perspective on his book, his views.
Very insightful, thank you. I have read only one of the referenced books, the Long Haul, which for me, it was in as much as it took awhile for me to slog through it.
In your stereotyping of foreigners in China, one must be careful to conclude that just because one does not agree whole heartedly with a “Chinese” mindset, that one is closed minded. I suspect I would definitely be placed in that second tier, not because, I think my views are better, but because I feel looked down upon for holding different views which I see as neither better nor worse, but merely different.
Bottom line, looks like I have some more reading to do.
For Desmond Shan, I would prefer the use of the word incongruent rather than inconsistent. Since I never read his book I am unable to comment on whether he is consistent or not, i.e., does he recognise or fail to recognise his privileged position which allowed him to obtain his wealth.
Very well spoken critiques---diplomatic, uncompromising.
I'm glad I discovered your channel. An authentic take by a Chinese person is rare to find within Western media. Thanks. Looking forward to hearing more.
Yes, I believe everything here too. I have no idea what I was thinking before I saw this. When somebody tries too hard to be relatable...
Good content. I've read a few on that list.
HI Siming, nice to see you back. You have to understand that all of western academia, publishing and journalism serves the same ideological masters. These people have a mindset that is so self centered and delusional that they can not fundamentally understand anything other than their own perspective and viewpoint. I have observed this since I was in high school reading such called reputable rags like the Economist etc. If the story is not negative about China they simply would not get published. My recent realization is this purposeful myopic reporting was not restricted only to China but to the rest of the world outside of so called "western world". With the rise of the internet, much of the lies of the western fifth estate has become exposed and thus the near collapse and low opinion of all mainstream news organization in the west - from TV to newspaper etc. The main consumers of mainstream news and the academic books you cite are the same group of people spewing this misinfo lies and delusions. The tragic result is these "elites" of the west by propping each other up through "fake degrees" (because they have no real world value) from Ivy League colleges have a complete distorted view of how the real world works and then goes on to advise the consult "leaders" on geo-economic policy. The disastrous results is being played out right before our eyes. To cite just a few paradigm shifting events these past two years resulting from delusional western academic thinking - the military debacle of NATO proxy army in Ukraine, the completely failed attempt to restrain China's technological economic development, the ascendency of BRICS, Africa, and the Global South, and the deepening economic crisis in all the western countries with no light at the end of the tunnel. All these were the direct result of policy based on complete misunderstanding and I would say delusional thinking of how the world works. "Party of One" is very representative of this mindset.
RE "Party of One" you just need to read resume of Chun Han Wong - "prominent Wall Street Journal" reporter, "Pulitzer Prize finalist" to know it is trash. You do not get these "accolades" by "rocking the boat". The confirmation is in the summary of of book "people misread Xi..that he would steer China toward more political openness, rule of law and pro-market economics", how Xi "centralized power, encouraged cult of personality around himself" "favors political zeal over technical expertise, trumpets its faith in Marxism" I ask you Siming, you are in China, is Xi's portrait in every house and government building? This rag of a book is pure lies and projection. As political censorship increase almost daily in all western countries, cancel culture is the norm for any thought outside of western government approved narratives. Illegal unilateral sanctions on half the world. Absolutely ideology trumps technical ability in the west, just look at military industrial economic failure of west due to delusional ideological mindset. This book is the standard typical NY Times bestseller expose of China. Excuse the vulgarness but it is one big intellectual circle jerk.
Love your content and effort to share the Chinese mindset of the people of China. There is no need to apologize for China or pander to western sensibilities. Any westerner who does not get it by now never will.
Thanks! For sharing 🖤
thank you!! 🙏❤
@@SimingLan thanks for replying 😍
Love this video! neec more voices like yours!
It's hard to talking political books without the background，3ku for sharing!
great video glad that you're critical
I have been reading One Child because of this video and am finding it very impactful. Thank you for the recommendation-since I am new to understanding the nuances here, your perspective is really appreciated.
Great video! Loved seeing your perspective on these books. Have you ever talked about or plan to talk about China's relation with Brazil? Thoughts on BRICS and what that means to the Chinese people?
the blend of BEAUTY - INTELLIGENCE - AND SPIRT is a blessing to experience -- I look forward to your inevitable shift from mind to deep heart over the next several years ... age creates deeper beauty --- keep GOING and thank you. It's a BREATH of FRESH AIR to watch you.
A joy to listen to - I agree.
Thanks
Interesante análisis. Just try to frown less. Love from México.
Hi Siming. A really great presentation and overview of your opinions on some interesting books. One point to capture on Western opinions is that science and colonialism have created a museum like categorisation of foreign cultures by Western authors, sometimes given the name 'orientalism' - based on Edward Said's writings. From your list, I have read books by Shum, Dikotter and articles by Doshi. I originally came to 'China studies' by reading Jung Chang's Wild Swans. I regard her as one of history's greatest story tellers, with a great inside perspective on China from Qing Dynasty up till Mao. Maybe the only way to understand China in the end is through a non attached 'love'. China is deeply imperfect, but incredibly beautiful and these 2 aspects have to be fully accepted and integrated before a holistic perspective can emerge! The political is not the personal and the real strength of a culture can only be seen through its everyday people! 👍🏻🔥🌠
Excellent analysis of the books! Also, thank you for your personal aspects directly and open to your vulnerabilities when the writer makes you uncomfortable. ❤
Great review of some books I need to read which are now on my ‘to-read’ list!
I think to understand China’s present and future we need to understand its past, especially the ‘century of humiliation’ and its impact on where China is today. One of the best books I’ve read on the origins of this humiliation is Stephen R. Platt’s ‘Imperial Twilight’ which I found riveting.
Books at the more recent end of the spectrum I’ve read in the last year or two are John Keay’s ‘China - A History’, Kishore Mahbubani’s ‘Has China Won?’, and Henry Kissinger’s ‘On China’.
Wang Anyi’s ‘Song of Everlasting Sorrow’ is a real gem 💎 which makes me wish my hanzi was better than it is (I’m told the English translation is good but not a patch on the original), and some of Eileen Chang’s work is definitely worthwhile 📖📚
I just watched the video you posted today. Keep up the good work 💪🏻😊🎷
您也可以读一读北大马克思主义学会编写的《共和国的历程》，《文革史》，以及《中国资本主义的发展和阶级斗争》。我个人认为（当然也是从左派立场出发），与其从西方，特别是英美国家的视角来观察中国，国内年轻一代的左翼视角对当代中国社会有更深刻的洞察力
What might be interesting is to include criticism for each book by other writers/scholars. That could give you better insight from a more experienced and learned perspective. Also remember these books are part of an industry producing material for a market with a specific audience in mind. You're not going to find that much deviation from the set narrative about China, they wouldn't sell well for a reason.
Personally I keep well away from mainstream publications and look directly for scholarship in more critical fields like postcolonial and decolonial theory. I'm not a student or academic so my recommendation for an easily relatable and illuminating read: Colonial Temporality & Chinese national modernization discourses by Marius Meinhof. Please don't be scared off by the title, it's actually something that a lot of people recognise in everyday life but don't quite know how to articulate. I hope this German scholar scores better than the one in your review! 😊
Good point. Some of these western so called "scholars" are basically paid by the political class to write narratives that justify their imperialist lust for conquering countries like China (any country that has not yet given the keys to its government over to Washington DC). DEmonizing China in the eyes of ordinary people is important in preventing opposition to the war on China that neo-conservatives in Washington desire so keenly. A war we might see rapidly approach now that the Empire's project in Ukraine has been foiled by Russia.
Yuan Shikai, last imperial Chinese prime minister, came to New York and bewildered to see big buildings. When he went to Empire State he asked why his room is so small? It was just the elevator . Now PRC have the world’s 2nd largest building after burj.
I just discovered your channel. You are doing a great job in presenting your ideas in English. However, I think you can do more than translating Chinese government's propaganda or standard views about China into the English context. That is, actually making a synthesis from both sides of the opinions, and arrive at new propositions.
your bookreview... I found it quite.. informative. Also about your topics of interest, and your public persona. Youdr British accent is quite impressive, you seem to be ambitious and a person, who is on a definite path of making your life exceptional in your own way. Did you read books by Cixin Liu? If yes, did you find them worthwhile?
OMG, your so Intelligent articulate....I could listen to you talk all day.. plus that accent is a killer, soooooo darling 💕❤️🥰. keep up the great work 👍🇨🇳👏
Love why your little gorgeous heart is broken? I love your video, especially the one over the mosque???
China is a Socialist country with a market sector or simply put, Market Socialist. Communism is stage of development which lies far beyond socialism and socialism is therefore a stepping stone towards communism. Despite having this market sector China is still a true Socialist state as socialism is an economic system where the means of production (privately or publicly owned) are operated in accordance with socialist state central planning to benefit the country as a whole rather than simply existing to enrich private owners or in other words capitalism.
Or maybe not
@@bjrnhjortshjandersen1286i've received my education on socialism from Russians who lived in the Soviet Union but please , enlighten me 🙃
These authoritarian systems love to create dribble to justify their own existence, similar to religion.
Through ideology you try to justify the dictatorial system of the communist party in China.
It’s just creative writing.
One man one vote in a representative system has the highest likelihood of leading to the best outcomes for the most amount of citizens.
Accountability to the people is the only way man has found to keep those that rule over them in check, and liberal democracy has the best track record for operationalising this.
What about so many billionaires in China? She shows party members privileges and enrichment... No true socialism exists...
Nowadays, China is much less socialist than the US and many other developed nations, it's still at early stage of capitalism.
very informative
谢谢你😊
I still have doubts about what video ideas I can recommend for you, maybe something more social/political? That said, perhaps you should address how certain ethnicities behave in China's socio-political environment, such as Manchus (the ethnic group that came to govern China and that today seem to have "disappeared"), Mongols (an ethnic group that comes from an empire foreign and invaded China). And I should address Tibet, which for a long time was the focus of Western criticism of China, but today it seems to have diminished a lot. A recommendation for a book would be: The Story of China: A portrait of a civilisation and its people - Michael Wood.
Thank you for your high quality video , as a Chinese , wish make some Chinese content , that can make more Chinese see ,and can you make some China versus the West video in your view，and what do you think about immigration，thank you
很棒的评论，非常有帮助，谢谢！
Thanks for sharing! It's interesting to see it from a Chinese youth's perspective.
Hi Siming, thank your for your nuanced insights. You mentioned the social credit system in passing. Is this not a real thing? Would like to hear your thoughts about this. For those of us outside China, it is a sure sign of authoritarianism gone haywire.
"For those of us outside China, it is a sure sign of authoritarianism gone haywire." This just proves how a one-party state system isn't necessary at all to disseminate "Orwellian" propaganda among the masses about the "enemy" governments they're in a "great power conflict" with, geopolitically and economically. PolyMatter's video on China's "social credit system" does a good job of demolishing the narrative about it being some dystopian system of social control or whatever, PolyMatter is still very charitable to the US government and its corporate media and very much critical of the Chinese government, so just so you know, he doesn't have a pro-China bias.
It's similar to a financial credit score, rather than what its being made up to be like by the media.
This social credit system is quite a bloody joke from the beginning, interestingly seeing there are still many ppl believe in such thing tbh.
Thanks, Siming. Been observing China for 40 years, so, The Long Game.
As a leader of a nation, if one cannot ensure the people's safety from fear and gun-related robberies, I believe that is not a good leader or a place of happiness. I am fortunate that most East Asian countries have achieved this, including Greater China and Singapore.
Long time no hear Siming, have you read any of Xi Jinping's 4 books?
Hello! I have, actually!😂
I am starting on his first book. It is not easy reading though. Let me know if I should continue on thru the other 3 books.
read the fourth one, and only read stuff that piques your interests@@kitsura
Ok. What so special about the 4th book?
Great content Siming! Some comments are too harsh, dont care about them, we love you:)❤
hahaha❤ you can tell me
思维逻辑很好，你的声音很好听❤❤
Anyone with an elementary knowledge of Chinese history knows famines were frequent and regular through all Chinese history, for millenia. The famines and misery of the century of humilation though is probably only matched by the invasion of the mongols. It was during MAo's era that the famines came to an end and there haven't been any since, though some over parts of the post-colonial global south do still suffer famines. But we can't believe our own eyes that CPC stopped famines in China so the Western propoganda industry had to invent a terrifying myth for western audiences demonising the "cOmMunIsTs". With practically zero physical evidence the Mao Famine Myth was created by US scholars, like the Holodomor myth and now we can add the Uyghur genocide myth to the literary genre i call "communist atrocity porn". In reality under communism new agricultural methods were developed including things like hybrid rice that radically increase crop yields- developments censored in the west because only bad things can be told about China.
I really enjoy your updates and I love how articulate you are in English. I met many Chinese friends while studying at University of Cambridge and had a Chinese gf from Xi’an while there. She is the reason I’ve read widely around Chinese history and culture for several years and have been learning Mandarin for four years (I’m now dreaming in Mandarin 💭🤭).
I’m very excited to hear about these books you’ve reviewed and will certainly check them all out.
My personal favourites are: ‘Imperial Twilight’ by Stephen Platt; ‘Has China Won’ by Kishore Mahbubani; ‘Song of Everlasting Sorrow’ by Wang Anyi; ‘The Rape of Nanjing’ by Iris Chang; and many of Eileen Chang’s works 📚📖✍️
Please keep up the good work. I’m always happy when I see you’ve posted a new video 🎥🍿😊
dreaming in Mandarin, that's some next level commitment :d
Mahbubani is one of my favourite authors, and lovely recommendations!!
The authors’ last names of your books add a lot of weight. Generally speaking, that’s a golden rule to pick out readable books about China. 😂
@@johnbrown40639 哈哈 🤣 Another of my Cambridge besties (BBC - British born Chinese) is also a Zhou ☀️🤩
> 4K views 22 hours ago < KEEP GOING --- you are in a 'weird' spot --- you are GREAT --- KEEP GOING --- keep finding AUTHENTICITY
I would grade you as 9.8 ---- / 10 --- KEEP GOING - 'find your spot' .. you have the RIGHT POTENTIAL ---
Thank you for the video and the effort you put it in!
I've been an avid "China watcher" (as you call it :D) for around 4 years now. I'm pretty cynical when it comes to western book about China. I would dismiss and judge people who actually read those as being "propagandized", your video kind of humbled me in some way. I respect very much your willingness to try to find the good everywhere, that's pretty incredible.
In the "We have been harmonized" book you mention that they downplay / mock Chinese successes, wasn't it the case for all the books you read? For me it's hard to imagine a western book giving China a real tribute about something (ie poverty alleviation).
You characterize Mao as narcissistic, where does that come from? It's very interesting to me because I'd imagine that something that sets you apart from a lot of people in China right?
I think, given your interest in politics and China it would make sense to explore more on the question set by the book in 26:00 in your next videos. Would love a series on that.
Cheers!
Western media has many views on China. Only very recently has a common narrative come through. Ccp media on the other hand says one thing. America is bad and has been saying that for a few years now.
Hello, I'd like to comment on the thing about Mao as narcissistic, first of all, Mao is not only a leader, but also a very good poet, one with at least four sets of romantic relations with women. I can imagin someone that powerful and yet full of wiz to be a bit narcissistic and attractive to women. Mao is a very special human being, one of a kind, evil or not, he is not like any other man. So to put it a mild way, people worship him, if he wasn't against it, it would make him a bit marcissistic, don't you think?
Hi ma'am
You are doing Good work
So a 3/5?
I love how captivating you are with your initial "compliments" to the writing, how forgiving about books' "drawbacks" and how insisting on that there are no facts - only points of view)) You are great at keeping a positive attitude and showing wisdom to people who accuse your country that you live in and the government that you work for (okay, maybe indirectly) in taking away people's rights and freedom)
I am fascinated by you!
What other ways are there to think about politics? Is it not a always choicing between personal freedom and societial order/homogeneity? I fully accept an autocracy is the most effeicent form of government. It is a very tricky problem. What makes a good society? If states had their original autonomy, we would have many expressions of good and poeple could choose what society is best.
Siming, would it possible that you could add a Chinese (simplified) translation to your videos。 It would be a great help for me。 I enjoy your opinions/ viewpoints and topics very much。 from m。
I liked the book "The China-Pakistan Axis" by Andrew Small
long time no see, is the next video coming soon？
I think it is very wrong to conclude that China's education system does not encourage creativity and curiosity about the world. China today is a world leader in science and technology. Space exploration is perhaps the best example of this...China's landing on the far side of the moon...China's landing of a rover on Mars...China's construction of the Tiangong space station.
According to the *CWTS Leiden Ranking 2023,* most of the universities that produce the most scientifically impactful research are Chinese - that’s 16 out of the top 25 universities!
According to the *Nature Index 2022 Big 5 science nations’* Top Rising 100 science institutions, the Top 23 rising institutions are all Chinese!
And 41 out of the Top 50 rising institutions are Chinese! (Seven are American, two are British, and two are German.)
When we look at the *Nature Index’s* top institutions ordered by research output, we note that 11 of the Top 25 institutions are Chinese (7 are American). In total, 20 of the Top 50 institutions are Chinese (19 are American).
In other words, there is a heck of a lot of good scientific research being done in China. In general, Chinese universities match or exceed the best Western universities.
In terms of creativity and innovation, China leads the world in 37 out of 44 technological fields, according to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. The list of Chinese innovations is literally endless.
Oh no, it's over for N. America. 😊
The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST; Chinese: 五百米口径球面射电望远镜), nicknamed Tianyan (天眼, lit. "Sky's/Heaven's Eye"), is a radio telescope located in the Dawodang depression (大窝凼洼地), a natural basin in Pingtang County, Guizhou, southwest China. This is absolutely wonderful for radio astronomy!
North Korea has a space program too. So what is your point?
@@kc10man The point is that China is very advanced in space exploration surpassing the United States in many respects. Many other countries have space programs too but they are quite far behind.
Yes, that's my take, too. The rap on the Chinese education system is that it is all rote learning that produces great memorizers and copiers but not much independent or critical thinking. Indeed, as one who taught in China for a number of years that was also my impression. For example, I had students who cheated on exam essay questions by memorizing entire articles from American magazines, but then I see some amazing technical breakthroughs such as HuaWei's world-beating chip developed in record time in response to American sanctions and have had to rethink a lot of what I thought I knew. Maybe all that memorization doesn't impede imaginative and critical thinking after all.
👏
Fantastic Channel! Do you feel that you have to censor your own thoughts before expressing them in a video, as they might cause a backlash from the Chinese government?
Thank you from
Germany
1:01 try to listen again,she already made it clear.
I think she nuances it very well and her methods to explain China to the West are far more superior than the politicians of both sides have had in trying to understand one another.
Her videos are very pro China and they should honestly give her an award. It takes significant education and cultural experiences to be able to articulate things in such a manner.
I think articulation is the key here, as many chinese people feel the same but are unable to articulate it as well as her.
Same explaination goes towards Western views of China as much of it is what has been poorly splashed across mainstream media.
@@drunkntigr well said 👏
@@mr.nobody3660 so if she can talk about these books that are not published in china is the censorship on china a myth or is she lucky that the party is not aware of her?
@@georgzwiebel9585 it's not completely a "myth" but is highly exaggerated, and if the Chinese government were that concerned about what individuals, especially RUclipsrs, say about China to the foreign audience, they would have assassinated laowhy86 and serpentza by now.
Added Party of One to my (ever expanding) audible wishlist 🤓
Is it dangerous to talk about 1989 in youtube videos if you're posting from China?
不會的，我看很多中國人都有在油管說過
The question to ask when thinking about deaths under communism - is would other forms of government prevented that?
Although, I am beginning to think the world view (religion) of the people has big impact on society.
I liked this. I would read all of the books if I wasn't banned from our local library for filing sexual harassment complaints against a man dressing like a woman who worked for them. No lie, but I was smart enough to get a short copy of the books I read and liked before I was ousted. So, I recommend to you "Nature embodied: gesture in ancient Rome" by Anthony Corbell to discover a take on the power war between China and the U.S. and others. Be sure to read the footnotes because there is a lot of good stuff in the small writing. Overall, for me, it is good to hear you work through what you hear as bias in others because it points out any naivete and bias in me. I will add your books to my book wish list.
Good
About the book, truth about china... Author should know Chinese are one of the most diverse Nation on Earth 🇨🇳💪👍🥰
Great content. Learned a lot. Prettiest british accent ever. A+ on the book reviews. I am French.
to be "Wooden" and "Didactic" ... I learned new words!!
Hahahaha you really went and read all those trashy a** books on china just to be fair to them, I have to respect the commitment and speaks for your integrity on research, reminds me of this one Mao quote - "No investigation, no right to speak" and you have gained that right
I just found this channel. Currently binge watching all the videos. It’s hard to find someone who don’t hate China in the west including japan where I live 🐏. Can anyone share other RUclipsrs who think like her? Thanks
How do you think the book would sell if the author dare praising China?
Very well. Obviously it would have a great market in China and with all those that support China .
you have a sort of posh british accent mixed with some chinese accent, it's very interesting; where did you goto school? did you grow up in england?
She did her undergrad in the UK.
@@SaveSoilSaveSoil she hung out with posh british ppl, ignored the working class haha
This is a great set of book reviews. But I wish that Siming Lan would tell us what she thinks of Xi's vision for Chinese society. What does she think Xi wants China to be like in, say, 20 years, how does she approve or disapprove, and does she think that he will achieve these goals?
My impression is that she is censoring herself here, either she stops herself from thinking about them, or does have thoughts but has decided not to present them in public.
Also, for understanding China, let me recommend the book The Center of the World by Robert S. Elegant.
Edgar Snow's 《Red Star Over China》 is a record description of the Communist Party in Yan'an before the founding of the People's Republic of China by government professionals. James Bradley's 《The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia》talks about Westerners' illusion of China becoming a disaster that affects the United States. I think wrong information should be marginalized. Reading these books that stereotype China is a waste of time. If you have this time, you might as well read reference books to improve productivity.
点个赞，再看。为何这么久没更新
她看这么多书，应该还是挺花时间的。这么柔软的妹子竟然喜欢研究这些内容，不可多得，果断关注了
He was a boy from a liberal democracy, she was a girl from an oligarchic autocracy, but maybe, just maybe, they could make it work 😫😍
十年老粉不请自来, 我太喜欢你的视频了, 最喜欢那期新疆旅行的😋
頻道才1年多吧，何來10年……
Thanks for the recommendations, it's really interesting to see the perspective of a Chinese person on these types of books.
I wanted to point out that a German author could very well have lived in a socialist country (people tend to forget the GDR sometimes), though after looking him up Kai Strittmatter is from the FRG, so that's not really relevant here.
Edit: What is your big criticism of "One Child" ? When you were talking about the book you seemed a lot more positive than the three star rating would suggest.
you spotted! yeah, mainly because the storytelling went flat in the middle for something i am so familiar with. but that might not be the same for someone who doesn't know, so my issue is less relevant for its merit
@@SimingLan Thanks for the response and explanation! That makes sense.
Japan is dumbing nuclear polluated water again， will you make episode on it please
I strongly disagree with the view stating Chinese students do not have great critical thinking. I does not correspond to my experience teaching in Chinese universities.
I guess that's just the way of getting the "west people" to sit down and listen.
It’s hard to believe that they can be worse critical thinkers than the current generation of American students…