Analysis of Deng Xiaoping: Chronicle of an Empire - Book Report/Review Example

Book report of “Deng Xiaoping: Chronicle of an Empire” The ‘Deng Xiaoping: Chronicle of an Empire’ book was written by Raun Ming and published, in 1994. The book is organized into three parts. Part one consists of four sub-topics, which describe the basis of Deng Xiaoping’s power from 1976 to 1979. The second part consists of six sub-topics, which examines the critical elements present in Deng’s reforms between 1979 and 1986. The third part consists of four parts that describe the end of Deng’s Empire from 1987 to 1989. The book mainly focuses on how politics worked during the rule of Deng Xiaoping, which includes the political reforms and ideological efforts that promoted the economic development of China (Ming 24). Deng Xiaoping was a paramount leader of China who promoted the economic reforms that led China to its current economic status. Although China was imprisoned by its political structure, Deng shaped the destiny of China; thus, making it the third largest economy in the world. However, China used to be a significant tourists destination until 1989 when students who were protesting at Tiananmen Square were viciously suppressed by the Chinese Army; thus, making visitors question the Deng Xiaoping’s leadership in China. Therefore, this book narrates the inside story of the ideological leadership battles in China, which have transformed the nation into a great economic, as well as political country. According to Ming (65), the underlying themes of the book can be hard to determine because describing Deng Xiaoping as China’s paramount leader is quite difficult. For instance, one part of the book describes a vivid picture of a rapidly growing economy, as well as improvement in the living standards of people in China while another part shows widespread poverty and possible decline in economic growth due to various shortages and corruption in the country. Also, another part portrays a picture of merciless political deterioration, and a paralyzed political structure that can hardly conduct the most significant government tasks such as a collection of taxes. Nevertheless, politics during the era of Deng Xiaoping can be considered as the main theme of this book. The author, Ruan Ming gives a much deeper analysis to the Chinese political struggles within the Chinese Communists Party (CCP) and shows how the power apparatus work. In this book, Ming (34) argues that Deng Xiaoping was crippled by profound insecurities, which ruined his efforts to break away from the strong conservative manipulators in the CCP who were against any political changes in China. Ming (70) state that Deng’s public career appeared satisfactory, but his activities behind the scenes remained obscure. Therefore, in his book, Ming focuses on Deng’s personal life where he argues that Deng withdrew from the democratic and human rights legislation due to his survival skills that enabled him to succeed in his rule. Moreover, Ming argues that Zhao Ziyang, Hu’s successor who was portrayed by most western authors as a reformer, was a schemer who was only interested in pushing Deng Xiaoping to the edge so that he could gain authority for himself, as well as for his new elite. For instance, Ming describes Zhao’s move to sympathize with the demands of students protestors in 1989, as merely a scheme to enable him gain power within the Chinese Communists Party (Ming 76). Therefore, according to Ming, the Chinese government is highly divided, which affects its ability to develop into a top world power in the future. Deng Xiaoping Chronicle of an Empire book contains several images and illustrations of Deng Xiaoping. First, the cover of the book has a black and white image of Deng Xiaoping as shown below. This is an image of Deng Xiaoping and Economic reforms in China in the late 1970s.. This is a graph showing the nominal GDP of China from 1952 to 2005. According to Ming (89), there was a rapid increase in GDP since the reform in 1970s. Ming was an insider of the Chinese government, as well as a member of the liberal reform movement. Hence, in his book, Ming emphasizes on the modern political works in China along with the struggle between the conservative and liberal elements of the Chinese Communist Party. Ming (78) states that the best features of Ming's book are the historical chronology and the glossary. The glossary contains the names of the prominent Chinese officials while the chronology includes the political events that occurred in China from 1976 to 1993. This book is suitable for anybody interested in the inner activities of the Chinese government because it explains the history of China from the perspective of a former member of the government. In the book, Ming enables people to see, as well as understand the personal lives of key political players of China without their masks. Also, the book proves that the Chinese government is highly divided and how this division connects to its ability to develop into a powerful nation in the future. However, Ming’s book is quite dense to be read by anyone who lacks a thorough background of recent Chinese politics and history. It is difficult to understand the various Chinese political terms used in the book since no explanation is given to assist those who are not familiar with the terms. Also, there is no historical narrative available to join the material and make it compelling to the readers. Thus, this is not the best book for anyone seeking to know more about the history and politics of China. Works Cited Ming, Ruan. Deng Xiaoping: Chronicle of an Empire. Westview Press. 1994. Print. Read More