It’s launch day!
Dear readers,
Drawing on a decade of research, China Unbound is now officially published!
It weaves historical & political context with on-the-ground reporting across four continents to present comparative case studies on major topics including Beijing’s “wolf warrior diplomacy,” far-reaching authoritarianism, the Huawei Meng Wanzhou saga and U.S.-China competition. I use the term “the West” intentionally, because it is crucial to understand the colonial histories in which modern frictions arose.
China Unbound has been selected as a best book of Fall 2021 by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Quill & Quire, Vancouver Sun and CBC Books!
Publishers Weekly said the book is “doggedly reported and fiercely argued, offering essential insight into Beijing’s aims and activities.”
It’s been endorsed by veteran authors and academics including Jan Wong, Timothy Cheek, Leta Hong Fincher, Howard French, Madeleine O’Dea, Karoline Kan and Rob Gifford, my former editor at The Economist.
I’m especially touched by feedback from early readers, like Andy Yan, who called the book a “delicious potato chip–like piece of journalism. You can’t stop at one page!” and Julie, who notes that the book comes at a pivotal time in global politics, where I offer insights into China’s growing influence through the “ease of a natural storyteller … this is the book we all need to read to understand where we are and where we may be headed as the balance of international power shifts.”
It means a lot that China specialists and China-curious readers alike have already finished reading the 300-page book, finding it packed with information yet “effortless” to read. I wanted it to be useful to as many people as possible, since we're in a time where greater nuance and context in China discussions couldn’t be more important.
While the China-based research took place from 2012 to 2018 in my time as a foreign correspondent, I also reported across North America, Europe and Australia in 2019 then wrote most of the book (in my basement!) in 2020. The pandemic gave me more motivation to make it as engaging as possible since there is a lot going on in the world. I'm immensely grateful to colleagues who worked with me out in the field as well as those who provided feedback on early drafts!
I'm happy to have achieved a dream, but my heart is also heavy thinking about the people I feature in the book anonymously, such as the Uyghur exiles I met in Istanbul, or the Canadian refugee from Hong Kong who was a Catholic high school teacher, harassed out of his job and away from his home because of his support for the city's pro-democracy movement. It's my privilege to help tell their stories.
If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, you can find China Unbound at Indigo, Barnes & Noble and independent bookstores across North America (check indieboung.org), or as an ebook or audiobook internationally. I’ve suggested other options on my website. If your local bookstore or library doesn’t carry the book, you can ask them to order it.
Book Depository ships internationally, and purchases through this link support the Hong Kong Free Press! Stay tuned for news about the book’s official international launch through Hurst Publishers on November 4.
Thank you!