Contemporary China (Routledge Studies on Think Asia)

Contemporary China: A New Superpower? is a unique textbook introducing the complexity and diversity of China’s society, politics, economics, and international affairs, and the multiple ways in which their dynamics corroborate to simultaneously construct and challenge perceptions of China.

Structured thematically in three sections – History, Society and Culture; Politics and Economy; and International Relations – this textbook provides answers to one of the most frequently asked general questions in relation to China. Will it become a new superpower and equal the international power and influence of the United States? Chapters written by some of the most recognized commentators and researchers of China cover a broad range of topics and offer an in-depth analysis of issues in contemporary China, such as the impact of the Tiananmen 1989 events, the economic development of the country, the environmental and demographic crises, social control and propaganda, and the role of China in the region and the world.

Introducing students comprehensively to the domestic context and international affairs of China, the book will be particularly useful for undergraduate-level courses in Asian Studies and courses on the history, politics, and international affairs of China and Chinese Studies.

Kristina Kironska is an academic researcher who worked in Taiwan for many years, where she lectured at the University of Taipei and organized human rights lectures at Amnesty International. She currently works as an assistant professor at Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic, and advocacy director at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, Slovakia.

Richard Q. Turcsanyi is the program director of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, Slovakia, and an assistant professor at Mendel University in Brno and Palacký University Olomouc, both in the Czech Republic. He is an author of Chinese Assertiveness in the South China Sea (2017) and a number of other publications dealing with Chinese foreign policy.