The book world leaders are reading:

with the indonesian president

Martin Jacques met the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (right), for a one-hour discussion at the presidential palace on the ideas in his book.


Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak The Malaysian prime minister Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is reported by Bernama, the official news agency, as reading a few books at a time and the latest were 'When China Rules The World' by Martin Jacques and 'Blink' by Malcolm Gladwell.


asian society logo

When China Rules the World  has been shortlisted in the United States for the Asia Society’s annual Bernard Schwartz Book Award.


When China Rules the World  was shortlisted for the Bristol Festival of Ideas Book Award, the second most valuable UK non-fiction prize

Bristol festival of ideas logo


uk cover

UK Edition - 25 June 2009

Can be purchased from local bookshops or from Amazon.co.uk, Waterstones.com, etc. The US edition (below), can be ordered from Amazon.com, BN.com and other sites.


us cover

US Edition - 12 Nov 2009


chinese edition

 

Chinese Edition -

2010 年1月10日.

 


 

Latest articles

The Observer 04/04/10

 

Martin Jacques defied the odds to expose racial prejudice and medical negligence in a Hong Kong hospital. Here he tells of his feelings on learning that his 10-year struggle was over

The settlement approved by the Hong Kong high court last Wednesday in the legal action brought by me and my 11-year-old son, Ravi, against the Hospital Authority over the death of Harinder Veriah, my wife and Ravi's mother, represents a major victory. It has taken 10 years and a huge commitment of emotion, time and resources. We have faced monumental obstacles. From the outset the Hospital Authority denied any responsibility and it has used its limitless funds to try to bludgeon us into submission.

Hari died on 2 January 2000 in Ruttonjee hospital. We had been in Hong Kong just 14 months, Hari having been seconded there by her London law firm while I used it as a base from which to write my book on China. Ravi was just nine weeks when we arrived. At 1am on 1 January, Hari had an epileptic fit while we were out celebrating the millennium with our friends, Eric and Marlene Hobsbawm, who had come to stay with us in Hong Kong. Hari was taken by ambulance to the Ruttonjee. When I went to see her for the second time on the evening of New Year's Day, I was anxious about how she was being treated.

read more


The Guardian 01/02/10

Beijing raises its voice

China's tough response on US arms sales to Taiwan reflects the shift in the global balance of power

The Chinese response to the decision of the United States to sell a $6.3bn arms package to Taiwan presents a small but significant raising of the ante. The Chinese have partially halted the military exchange programme between the two countries, only recently resumed following a suspension after the last such military package in 2008. This time the Chinese have also threatened to impose sanctions against the US firms involved in the deal. This is causing serious disquiet among firms like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Taiwan, of course, is of special significance to the Chinese; since 1949 the return of the island to China has been seen as an overriding priority. Beijing regards Taiwan as an internal Chinese issue, and the US arms sales are ­therefore regarded as interference in China's internal affairs and a violation of its sovereignty. When the pro-independence DPP held office in Taiwan, China's relations with the island were fraught; but with the victory of the more ­moderate KMT, they have improved immeasurably and some kind of ­reconciliation between China and ­Taiwan is now conceivable. This has made the Chinese more confident in their handling of the Taiwan issue.
But the underlying reason for the tougher Chinese response is the shift in the balance of power between China and the US, evident since the global financial crisis. Beijing is in a stronger position, and this is finding expression in its ­attitude towards issues from climate change to a growing economic assertiveness. It is unlikely the Chinese will overplay their hand – they are too cautious and too diplomatically shrewd – but we should expect them to be more prepared to flex their muscles.

read more


londons school of economics

Lecture: When China Rules the World - Martin Jacques

Old Theatre

Wednesday 13 January 2010

download podcast

 

Because of a jam-packed week, my time at this year's World Economic Forum was limited. But as is always the case with Davos, there were more than a few snapshot-worthy moments. Things got off to an interesting start before I even arrived. I happened to be on the same flight from D.C. to Zurich as Larry Summers, who was reading Martin Jacques' weighty tome, "When China Rules the World. His review: "Interesting...and disturbing."

(Arianna Huffington Davos Diary, The Huffington Post)

The must read book for the Washington set today is Martin Jacques’, When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order. The journalist’s tome has a status amongst DC intellectuals best compared with the one Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat had five years ago. Obama’s economic advisor Larry Summers was spotted brooding over it on a plane to Davos recently.

 (NRC Handelsblad 18/02/2010)

Recent reviews of When China Rules the World

 

The Washington Post

Seth Faison

Martin Jacques, a British news columnist, became fascinated by the manic modernization underway in China when he visited there in 1993. He saw construction cranes working round the clock, roads streaming with trucks and carts, and peasant women balancing wares on either end of a bamboo pole. The vibrant energy and evident willpower got Jacques musing: Would the economic boom follow the Western model? Or would China pursue modernity in its own way?

Jacques went for a holiday in Malaysia. One day, while he was out for a run on the beach, his eye chanced upon a dark and attractive woman. A 26-year-old lawyer, she was not an obvious match for a pink-skinned, pointy-headed, chronically unmarried Brit who was nearing 50. But the woman, Hari Veriah, who was born in Malaysia to Indian parents, was fearless and modern-minded, and her Asian perspective was like tinder to his spark.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

read more


New York Times

Joseph Kahn

Historians may someday debate whether the financial crisis that began a year ago is most notable for how much damage it did to the United States, or how little it inflicted on the world’s major rising power, China. Helped by huge state intervention and buoyant optimism almost surreally undiminished by the crisis of confidence across the Pacific, China has had a very good downturn. It is closing the gap with the world’s most developed economies faster than anticipated and could overtake Japan as the world’s second-largest economy when the final figures for last year are tallied.

China’s already rapid emergence is changing many things, from diplomatic alliances in Africa to the status of the dollar as the world’s favorite currency. It may also open minds to a provocative thesis that, until a short time ago, might have been dismissed as breathless hyperbole.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

read more


book tv

Watch the program


NPR logo

China as the New Global Power

Monday 11 January 2010

Listen to the programme