Who among us would have thought even a few years ago that China would now be playing such a prominent role in the plastics processing business, or, for that matter, in the overall world economy? My premise here is that it has become necessary, in our own best interests, to stay informed about what is going on in China, and about China’s relationships to other countries of the world.
There are good, readily accessible sources available, and I have a few specific source recommendations in two categories: periodicals and books. I’m open to any you may wish to add.
Once you get them started, the periodicals keep on coming, and the challenge is to keep up. The books you have to seek out at your own initiative, but they are finite and you can read them at your own pace. An alternative is to read the periodicals online.
Regular Reading
Here are my suggestions:
The Wall Street Journal. The Journal most likely comes to your place of business already. For day-to-day coverage of China’s impact on the business world, it’s hard to beat the Journal. The paper has China coverage virtually daily, and also does a good job with other Asian countries, notably Japan.
The uninitiated may think the Journal is just a stock-market rag. Not so, not by a long shot. In addition to financial coverage, the Journal addresses cultural, legal, political, and even religious concerns from far-flung corners of the international arena. It’s a serious publication, but not without some comedic touches. For example, left is right and right is left on the Op-Ed pages. This is not absolute, of course, but is a readily observable tendency.
The right-leaning, more-Republican-than-thou official editorials appear on the left side. On the right are the left-leaning opinion pieces, some staff-written, some contributed by outside authors.
On a slow news day, when little goes on that calls forth editorial opinion, the Journal lets fly with its recurrent flogging of the plaintiff’s bar, i.e., attorneys that pursue personal injury lawsuits, frequently in the form of class action suits. But never mind the Opinion pages. There is a wealth of learning available in the rest of the paper that hews to journalistic standards above the political fray.
The New York Times is a second source. The Times coverage tends to be less directly concerned with financial matters and is more human-interest oriented than the Journal, but finance and human interest can never be truly separated. Besides, we’re looking for variety here, not a monolithic pile. Politically the Times may be considered the flip side of the Journal coin. The Times is basically Democratic, but with Republican commentary salting the mix. But who cares? It’s the international coverage, specifically the China coverage, which concerns us at the moment.
The Economist is next. It’s a weekly, U.K.-based journal that works hard to overcome its self-inflicted name. Economics is only a fraction of what The Economist deals with. Its thoughtful coverage of Chinese matters is well worth the time it takes to let it soak in.
Books Worth Reading
In the non-periodical category, we have several recommendations. Unlike the periodicals, these books are not focused on current economic conditions or events, but provide a useful background to understanding the influences that affect today’s China.
Stilwell and the American Experience in China is a Pulitzer-prize-winning narrative by the late popular historian Barbara Tuchman. It describes American efforts in the Burma/China/India military theatre around and during the WWII era. The “Stilwell” of the book title was General Joseph “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell, a brilliant but abrasive Chinese-speaking American who hated pretense but dutifully aided the Nationalists in their failed efforts to take control of China. The Nationalists retreated to Formosa, now known as Taiwan, which has been in conflict with mainland Communist China to the present day. Also from Barbara Tuchman is Notes from China, which arose from the author’s visits there.
The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress, by Andrew J. Nathan and Robert Ross, is about 250 pages in large-format paperback. It is a very readable description of China’s search for security, and was described by The Wall Street Journal as “A strong antidote to the growing Sinophobia in the U.S.”
China, a New History, by John King Fairbank and Merle Goldman, is about 450 pages in large-format paperback. It is a cross between an academic and a popular work, and it delves deep into China’s history. It is not light reading, but worthwhile if you’ve gone through the other sources of your choice and are ready for a challenge.
P.S.—Don’t forget to check out our website and those of our sister publications, Injection Molding Magazine and Modern Plastics, for China-related coverage: www.pma-magazine.com, www.immnet.com, and www.modplas.com.
