CPC’s Long March to Dominate Global Capitalism

The “rise of China” has taken a pause. The Chinese economy is sluggish. The Belt and Road Initiative is confronted with major problems. The China–United States (US) trade war is at its peak. Hong Kong is on the boil. Xinjiang is in the news for negative reasons. Aksai Chin is back in the Indian geopolitical discourse. The prophecy that the “great wall” will eventually crumble under the weight of democracy may not be as far-fetched as it had appeared a few years ago. The crucial question is: How will China behave in times of crisis? Will the Communist Party of China (CPC) seek war to prevent its probable disintegration or will it use diplomacy to emerge out of the quagmire?

The two books, by Western journalists, under discussion here deal with the twin issues of democratisation and disintegration of the CPC. Jonathan Fenby’s Will China Dominate the 21st Century? deals with contemporary China and expects the democratic discontent to soon seep through the ever enlarging fissures in the CPC. Bertil Lintner’s China’s India War: Collision Course on the Roof of the World delves into history to inform that when faced with internal crisis, the CPC is likely to resort to war.