China looks at the West

China looks at the West: identity, global ambitions, and the future of Sino-American relations. By Christopher A.Ford. Lexington : The University Press of Kentucky. 2015. 638pp. Index. £55.00. isbn 678 0 81316 540 0. Available as e-book. The western world, for hundreds of years, has generated images of China that have seized or repelled the popular imagination. The Middle Kingdom has been either an exotic ‘other’, full of promise and excitement, or a threatening dragon that could eventually dominate the globe. But what about the opposite: how does China see the West, especially America? In this marvellously well-constructed and argued study, former US congressional staffer Christopher Ford has outlined in exquisite detail the ways that Chinese view the world, and how their approach to the West informs and shapes continued authoritarianism and constant resort to defensive and offensive nationalism. More scholarly than journalistic, nonetheless the book can be useful for both policy-makers and those wishing to understand how the Chinese state interacts with its own people

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