Alden Carter: Writer

China’s Century?

The 2008 Olympic Games in China showcased a stunning new reality: China is no longer an emerging power; China is a superpower!

Already the world’s leading manufacturing nation, China will have the second largest economy by the end of this decade. Of Wal-Mart’s 6,000 leading suppliers, 5,000 are in China! China holds $1.3 trillion in foreign debt, underwriting the U.S. budget deficit and threatening to take the American economy hostage.

China’s reformers have discarded Mao’s brand of communism for free enterprise, the rule of law, and open local elections. Yet China’s leaders remain authoritarian, ruthlessly suppressing democracy in the People’s Republic. How long the people will accept rule by a communist elite is one of the fascinating questions explored in these pages.

China faces immense environmental, political, social, and economic problems, but the willingness of its leaders and its people to undertake every challenge provides an example for developed and developing nations alike. While the United States squanders its international prestige in Iraq, the world is turning increasingly to China for leadership.

As exciting as a novel and informative as the best history, China: From the First Chinese to the Olympics is the enthralling story of the world’s most populous nation from the ancient past to the vibrant present.

China beckons. Come share her story.