America’s repeated failures in China policy have been rooted in misapprehension. Belief in a monolithic communist bloc during the Cold War held the US back from engaging with the PRC until Sino-Soviet tensions became too obvious to ignore. Similarly, in the post-Nixon period, American projection and wishful thinking fueled the belief that economic integration would lead to political liberalization.
The last decade has seen the leap to a new China narrative as rapid as it was uncritical. While the mainstream attitude has swung towards China as a threat, many policymakers still see a weak regime incapable of innovating because it represses the creativity of its people. If Washington wants to pursue a new Cold War, it should be armed with an understanding of China based in reality.
In Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future, Dan Wang corrects the narrative. Drawing on years spent as a tech analyst in China’s most dynamic cities, he details the realities of Chinese innovation that have yet to penetrate the slow-moving consensus in Washington.
