China's Crisis: Dilemmas of Reform and Prospects for Democracy (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University) Book

Nathan explored the roots of the Tiananmen tragedy in Deng Xiaoping´s ten-year reform. Nearly a decade later, China´s leaders have further opened the economy, reduced inflation, and generally improved the material lives of the Chinese people, yet they have not reformed its rigid political system. How will cultural values and attitudes shape China´s political development? What will be the impact of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the West? How does the burden of China's past constrain its options for the future? Drawing on ground-breaking empirical research, Nathan measures the expectations of individual Chinese and their attitudes toward government and democracy. From its considerations of the difficulties of cross-cultural studies to its sophisticated historical and political analyses that, for example, link human rights in China to the strategic interests of the United States and the rest of the world, provides an accessible introduction, a journey into the intricate web of contemporary Chinese politics and a look at the possible future.