OUP £25

IN defining and describing how China has turned itself into an economic super power second only to America, Linda Yueh has some timely warnings for the US and its allies who might expect it to stumble and fall. China made it on its own and will continue to use the strength of its tiger economy on both the political and economic sides.

Mao may have said that power grows out of the barrel of a gun, but China’s modern leaders have learned how to add more barrels to the gun to make it even more dangerous. China is still growing even as other countries stagnate thanks to a system that demands political obedience but allows entrepreneurial freedom.

There are many chapters yet to come in the Chinese story, but there may be none for us unless we wake up in time.

Steve Craggs