Bad Elements - Chinese Rebels from La to Beijing

Who speaks for China? Is it the old men of the politburo or activists like Wei Jingshsheng, who spent eighteen years in prison for writing a emocratic manifesto? Is China's future to be fund amid the boisterous sleaze of an electoral cmpaign in Taiwan, or in the manoeuvres by which ordinary residents of Beijing quietly resist the authority of the state?

These are among the questions that Ian Buruma poses in this enlightening and often moving tour of Chinese dissidence. Travelling through the U.S., Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the People's Republic, Ian Buruma tells the stories of Chinese rebels who dare to stand up to their rulers, exploring their chances of success in the face of the most powerful dictatorship on earth. From the exiles of Tiananmen to the hidden Christians of rural China, he brings alive the human dimension to their struggles and reveals the world's most secretive superpower through the eyes of its dissidents.

About the author

Ian Buruma, 1951 in Den Haag geboren, lehrt als Henry R. Luce Professor am Bard College und lebt in New York. Er veröffentlicht in zahlreichen amerikanischen und europäischen Zeitschriften.

Summary

Ian Buruma approaches China through the stories of its dissidents: ordinary, brave people who oppose a regime that uses repression in the name of social order. What does dissidence mean in an authoritarian society? And what chance do they have of succeeding in the face of the largest remaining dictatorship on earth?

Foreword

Ian Buruma approaches China through the stories of its dissidents: ordinary, brave people who oppose a regime that uses repression in the name of social order. What does dissidence mean in an authoritarian society? And what chance do they have of succeeding in the face of the largest remaining dictatorship on earth?

Product details

• Authors: Ian Buruma
• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 04.06.2009
• EAN: 9781843549635
• ISBN: 978-1-84354-963-5
• No. of pages: 384
• Weight: 404 g
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Contemporary history (1945 to 1989); Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; China, POLITICAL SCIENCE / General, Asia, HISTORY / Modern / General, HISTORY / Asia / General, HISTORY / Revolutionary, HISTORY / Modern / 21st Century, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Law Enforcement, HISTORY / Asia / China, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Censorship, General & world history, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100, Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions, Politics and government, Far-left political ideologies and movements, Asian History, General and world history, Left-of-centre democratic ideologies, Ethical Issues: Censorship, Police and security services