China in Transition: Issues and Policies

Chinese society and economy are undergoing substantial transformation. After two decades of reform and an open-door policy, China has numerous achievements on all fronts. Many consider China as a rising world power which may even overtake the USA in GNP terms by the middle of the twenty-first century. Yet, accompanying the process of reform and the open-door policy, many problems have become apparent. Some are related to the formulation of policy and its implementation, but a significant proportion of them are institutional, caused by inherent contradictions within the Chinese political and economic systems. The objective of this book is to analyse some of the political, economic and social problems and issues confronted by the Chinese leaders. This book differs from other books on China in that all the authors have worked in tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, which is ideally situated both geographically and culturally to observe developments on mainland China.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Introduction; D.C.B.Teacher & H.S.Yee PART I: POLITICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES New Intellectual Currents in the People's Republic of China; W.Meissner Grassroots Political Participation in Rural China; H.S.Yee & Wang J. Public Maladministration and Bureaucratic Corruption; S.S.H.Lo Legal Reform in the Quest for a Market Economy; Carlos W.H.Lo PART II: FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES Sino-American Relations in the Post-Cold War Era; Ting W. Sovereignty Disputes across the Taiwan Straits; Chen Y.H. PART III: ECONOMIC ISSUES China's Regional Development Issues; Li Si M. Rural Industrialization and International Trade; Zhang X. The Challenge of Sustainable Development; K.K.Wong PART IV: SOCIAL ISSUES The Political Economy of Anti-Poverty in Socialist China; L.T.Chuen The Evolution of Family Planning Policies; Siu Y.M. List of Tables and Figures

About the Author :
DAVID TEATHER obtained batchelor and doctoral degrees at University College London. He subsequently held academic appointments at the Universities of London, Liverpool, Otago and New England, before taking up the post of Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Hong Kong Baptist University. His recent books include Higher Education in a Post-Binary Era and (with Alex Fung and Others) Information Technology in Educational Management for Schools of the Future. HERBERT S. YEE is an Associate Professor in Government and International Studies at the Hong Kong Baptist University. He has authored or edited seven books on Chinese politics in Chinese.

Review :
'The essays in this volume constitute a highly informative sampling of the political, economic and social problems confronted by contemporary Chinese policy-makers since the advent of the 'Deng Era' in the late 1970s. Readers will benefit from the excellent analysis of such crucial issues as leadership succession, the search for a legitimising ideology, the rise of non-party organisations, the consequences of dynamic economic reform and opening, the evolution of a functional rule of law system, population control and societal management, and a foreign policy of greater regional and global presence. The volume's largely Hong Kong based authors offer very interesting perspectives about the policy challenges faced by this great, yet complex nation.' - Professor Donald Hugh McMillen, University of Southern Queensland 'The editors identify and analyse some of the major problems and issues in the quest for modernisation and reform in China. The book is a valuable contribution to our understanding of one of the most significant subjects in the modern history of the world.' - Brian Hook '...extraordinarily broad in its coverage, including economic, legal, social, political and foreign relations issues and raising problems as diverse as corruption and attempted secession by minorities, especially the Uygurs and Tibetans. The chapters are penetrating in their analysis and rich in the information which they offer...' - Professor Colin Mackerras, Head of School, Modern Asian Studies, Griffith University