Cambridge Business Association
The Coming China Wars
Book

The Coming China Wars

Where They Will Be Fought and How They Can Be Won

Peter Navarro
FT Prentice Hall, 2006
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Editorial Rating

7

Recommendation

For all the books that argue the business case for China, this one openly argues against it. Peter Navarro has pulled together many familiar charges and allegations to make the argument that China is a threat to the world. Although the book is less than even-handed (and, in fact, less than properly proofread), it is a worthwhile antidote to the many glowingly positive books recently published on the subject of the China miracle. The author presents a case that, notwithstanding its deliberately opinionated point of view, deserves consideration: China's miracle depends to a greater degree than many other authors have been willing to acknowledge on the theft of intellectual property, the ruthless exploitation of labor, drug trafficking, and violation of the norms of diplomatic good conduct (for example, supplying dictators with weapons of mass destruction). However, while acknowledging the positive role this book plays in balancing the debate, getAbstract suggests taking it with a grain of salt. Navarro himself says he has drawn information from anti-China propaganda organs and other sources with their own biases, so respect his caution in pointing that out.

Summary

Dirty Business

China's economic boom has dire consequences. Unbridled capitalism and a foreign policy unguided by moral considerations have opened a Pandora's box for China and the rest of the world. China's manufacturing boom has generated a surge in pollution, worker exploitation, HIV/AIDS, currency manipulation and support for noxious African dictatorships – just for starters. China's geopolitical competition for oil and its manipulative currency policies have inflicted gas price increases and interest rate hikes on people in the U.S. and worldwide.

Environmentally, China’s deforestation, overcultivation and overgrazing have turned forests and pastures into deserts. Dust storms mix with polluted air to create vast clouds of "chog" that poison the air in and beyond China, affecting North Asia, and reaching the U.S. Chinese profiteering in the global blood trade, combined with unsanitary, irresponsible medical practices, has caused an HIV/AIDS epidemic that may make China the world capital of AIDS. China supports the global drug trade, encourages counterfeiting and piracy, and violates the norms of international good conduct with apparent impunity. This cannot go ...

About the Author

Peter Navarro is a professor at the Paul Merage School of Business in Irvine, Calif., and author of the investment book If It's Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks.

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