China's Vision of Victory - Jonathon DT Ward

Title: China's Vision of Victory
Author: Jonathon DT Ward
ISBN: 978-0-57-843810-8
Publisher: Atlas
Hardcover
Pages: 274

 In China’s Vision of Victory, the author has presented the reader with a comprehensive, insightful and thought provoking concept of what drives the Chinese and what goal they seek to attain. Western analysts have traditionally viewed China through the lens of a nation in gradual transition to one more in common with Western ideals. Initially, this perspective may have been understood given the experiences of the Soviet Union, Arab Spring and Tiananmen Square; however, this approach missed much of what were the underlying motivators of the Chinese leadership and by extension the Chinese people. Ward’s book approaches the question of Chinese aspirations from the perspective of one who has lived among the Chinese, has traveled extensively throughout China and its environs and is able to communicate fluently (both verbal and written) with the people in their own dialect. 

He has divided his book into five interconnected but distinct sections: rejuvenation and national destiny, ‘Blue National Soil’ - Military and Strategic Geography, Economic and Technological Ambitions, Global Reach and National Interest and Vision for New World Order. This is important because while each is unique, they are inextricably linked and help explain the common vision that the Chinese are pursuing. China is playing the long game and has the distinct advantage of having a government system that allows for the resources of the entire State: administrative, economic, military, diplomatic and societal, to be focused upon the task at hand. Ward clearly defines very early on exactly what that task is and, as he emphatically states, it is not the assumption of super power status in the world. Rather it is the return of China to what it sees as its natural position of pre-eminence amongst the international community. This distinction is critical to understanding the Chinese approach to domestic and international relations. To the Chinese, the ends justify whatever means need be used to achieve their return and every action they take is predicated upon how it will aid them in achieving their goal.

Ward presents a very compelling argument drawing a comparison between the external and internal Chinese messaging. The Domestic audience is constantly reminded of the “Century of Humiliation” starting from 1840 when a weak and corrupt China was pillaged by the forces of the West and how the newly revitalized China will return the world to its natural order. To the external audience, China presents a more conciliatory face, striving very hard to be seen as a benign power working in conjunction with world organizations to ensure peaceful coexistence. Emphasis is placed upon the efforts to raise its people from poverty and the use of Western PR firms to manage the message to foreign populations. 

This book is very well written and researched. It presents a comprehensive view of the Chinese goals and how they strive to achieve them. It also paints a rather bleak picture of the Western response to this threat. Ward pulls no punches nor does he present his arguments in such a way as to suggest that he has an underlying agenda. The threat that China presents to the world as it continues to awake from its slumber is real and tangible. That the West has been slow to respond is evidence of our complacency and hubris as well as the success at Chinese efforts at misinformation. Ward’s work needs to be read and discussed. It is a sobering call for action that Western powers ignore at their peril.