Featured as a best book of 2021 in Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Quill & Quire, Vancouver Sun, CBC Books. Winner of the Writers’ Trust Shaughnessy Prize for Political Writing

‘An eye-opening global tour of the growing influence of the new superpower. A fascinating, illuminating book.’  — Rob Gifford, Senior Editor, The Economist

‘A devastating analysis of the Chinese police state gone global. China Unbound is essential to understanding the fragility of peace in the twenty-first century.’ — Jan Wong, author of Red China Blues: My Long March from Mao to Now

‘Journalist Chiu debuts with a grim primer on China’s rise in the 21st century and its troubling implications for the world … Doggedly reported and fiercely argued, this cri de coeur offers essential insight into Beijing’s aims and activities.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘In China Unbound: A New World Disorder, Joanna Chiu, a reporter for the Toronto Star, provides a powerful, heartfelt account of Chinese immigrants and their fraught encounters with Beijing’s United Front Work Department, a lavishly funded government agency that works with the Ministry of State Security. Chiu tells gripping stories of influence operations in such disparate places as Australia, Canada, the US, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Russia.’ — New York Review of Books

‘An eye-opening exposé of the tactics China uses to increase its power and international influence. Chiu draws on over a decade of in-depth China-watching and reporting as a journalist.’ — Ormsby Review

“Offers extensive reporting on the country’s influence operations here and around the world … The CCP’s drive for control doesn’t end at the country’s borders. Indeed, the most illuminating parts of Chiu’s book describe the party’s overseas operations — the long arm of influence extending into sovereign nations.” — Literary Review of Canada

“Chiu skillfully weaves her strands together into a cohesive whole, and brings new material to the table, such as the tale of a Chinese student in Canada harassed by authorities back home for posting anti-China content online. It’s a well-crafted, narrative take on superpower competition from the particular perspective of ‘middle powers.’” — The Wire China

‘Chiu promises ‘nuance and context’ in her book, and she certainly delivers. While generally critical of the totalitarian Chinese regime, she cites Chinese historical experience to explain the touchiness of Chinese leaders and their newfound assertiveness on the world stage … China Unbound reveals Chiu to be an intrepid reporter and cogent analyst of Chinese politics and society.’ — Winnipeg Free Press

‘In this thought-provoking book, journalist Joanna Chiu argues persuasively that the United States, Canada, and other democracies — whether out of economic self-interest or sheer ineptitude — have enabled Beijing’s efforts to expand its influence around the world. A sweeping, timely, and nuanced read for anyone who cares about the global rise of authoritarianism.’ — Leta Hong Fincher, author of Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China

‘A vivid, perspicacious, and ultimately disillusioned book about the current direction of China that explores a rising China’s fitful relations with a wide range of countries, and reveals what’s left of its domestic reforms as being driven by an obsession with ever greater control. China Unbound delivers urgent and much-needed caution against xenophobia toward Chinese people at a time of growing tensions with a new superpower.’ — Howard W. French, former New York Times foreign correspondent, and author of Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power

‘A timely and fascinating book looking at China’s rise and the impacts on the current global order. A very-needed account at a time of fast geopolitical change, with smart analysis and engaging writing.’ — Karoline Kan, author of Under Red Skies: The Life and Times of a Chinese Millennial

‘By taking the China story global, Chiu shows how an increasingly powerful China is challenging not only our economies, but our institutions, our principles, and our communities. Reporting from the frontlines of China’s influence, from Australia, Canada, and the US to Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Russia, Chiu reveals embattled diasporas and critics under pressure as hypocrisy runs rampant in business and government, and a new world order begins to form. A vital, illuminating read.’ — Madeleine O’Dea, author of The Phoenix Years: Art, Resistance, and the Making of Modern China

‘Drawing on a decade of professional experience, Joanna Chiu offers a passionate and powerful account of the challenges we face in dealing with China today — challenges rooted in the West as much as those born in Beijing. A critical voice we need to hear.’ — Timothy Cheek, Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia, author of Living with Reform: China since 1989

“I found myself with a headache from clenching my jaw tight while I read page after page. This book is masterfully written, like a true life thriller except you really wish it were fiction. As I dug deeper into the book I was able to make more connections about past and present global events. I lost count of how often I said ‘now I get it’. Part of this could be due to my ignorance but Chiu covers China's influence across the globe. This book should be required reading for anyone old enough to vote. Dare I say for anyone who holds an opinion.” - Lynn, Goodreads