Economist's Review on Shambaugh's Book

choi

China | Chronicle of a Death Foretold; Why China must adapt or die. Economist, Mar 26, 2016
http://www.economist.com/news/bo ... icle-death-foretold
(new book, "China's Future")

Quote:

"Mr Shambaugh has long argued that China is less powerful than many people think * * * But China's trajectory also raises a bigger question: no country has yet been able to modernise its economy without becoming a democracy. Can China break the model?  His bald conclusion is 'no.'

"Looking forward, the author declares that China now faces a choice: reform or die. Ultimately, he reckons, it will stick to its current course of 'hard authoritarianism,' corroding the party’s ability to govern, constraining economic progress

"In the end, Mr Shambaugh cannot decide whether the coming crackup will be led by the party or the people.

"This sweep is both the book’s strength and weakness: by Mr Shambaugh's telling, China's problems are so many, various and deep that it does indeed seem impossible that the Communist Party can survive. Yet it raises the opposite question too: what, then, has held such an improbable regime together for so long?

Note:
(q) bald (adj): "not having any extra detail or explanation; plain or blunt  <the bald statement in the preceding paragraph requires amplification>"
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/bald
(b) crack-up (n): "an act of breaking up or splitting apart  <the crack-up of the Soviet Union>"
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/crack-up