How China Sees India and the World

A fairly insightful account of China in the world, with a useful potted history of ancient and medieval Chinese history. However, the book belies its title, as there is not sufficient specific analysis of China-India interactions in the modern age, and inexplicably, there is very little about the interactions between Nehru and Chou Enlai (for instance), and about the possibilities of reconciling the differences on the border issue. The Sino-Indian border imbroglio of 1962 looms large on the Indian psyche as the defining moment of the post-independence period, and part of the problem may have been the failure to understand one another's aspirations and compulsions. Indeed the leadership and the diplomatic corps seem to have been caught in an 'echo-chamber', where they were singularly unable to hear the solutions offered on a platter by the other party. This book could have contributed to a better understanding of that problem (especially in the context of some fairly major revisions published in recent years), but the opportunity seems to have been wasted by focusing instead on demonstrating the weaknesses in China's self-image and debunking its enhanced concept of its role in the world economy and polity. ( )