Hu Jintao And The Ascendancy Of China: A Dialectical Study

A Dutch sinologist, Hans Kuijper, once wrote that if you do not apply a model or theory in your study of Chinese (Communist) affairs, you are a pseudo-scientist. The paper was published in the July-September 2000 issue of China Report. According to the latest findings, the dialectical and non-dialectical China can be said to have a recorded history of 10,000 years. Noted historian Prof Wang Gungwu had said that there were many problems with Western books on Zhongguo (and the dialectical China). Yu Ying-shih, another noted historian, had stated that it was not proper to apply theories in the West to study Zhongguo. Prof Tu Wei-ming wrote: "...any approach we choose to study China is inevitably theory-laden and value-laden; it is naive to believe that we can ever arrive at a totally objective analysis or strictly factual explanation of China and that our interpretation is value-free.". The author also refers to what Shi Dongbing, a mainland China writer who had written more than 20 million Chinese characters on PRC history by October 1999. Dr Shi, for example, had interviewed more than 200 Chinese communists including some high-ranking officials. But, he had to acknowledge, that to seek truth from historical facts is not easy. As a response to these difficulties, this book attempts to use a dialectic model to study the administration of communist China and the ascendancy of Hu Jintao. READERSHIP: Policy makers, researchers, tertiary students, and others who are interested in the study of communist China.

Peter Kien-hong Yu is Professor of International Affairs at Ming Chuan University, Republic of China (ROC).