Rob Gifford
This is the third and final weekend of the Shanghai Literary Festival at M on the Bund so I had some Powdermilk Biscuits and gathered up the will to go downtown to the Bund to listen to Rob Gifford talk about his book, "China Road". Gifford, previously NPR's bureau chief in Beijing and now bureau chief in London, traveled Highway 312 from Shanghai to the border with Kazakhstan in 2004 and wrote about his journey and his encounters with ordinary Chinese and Uighurs along the way. If there was one big question he wanted to answer for himself was whether China is headed for greatness or whether there is trouble ahead.
Gifford is thoughtful and measured. He lived in China for much of the time since he arrived in 1987 as a language student. He's neither in the "panda hugger" or the "dragon slayer" camps so his conclusion that we can't take for granted that China's rise to greatness is inevitable, is sobering. According to Gifford, China is full of social and political fault lines that could rumble at anytime. He questions how long a 21st century economy can co-exist with a 1950s political system. "Once you let the people start choosing their pizza toppings how long will it be before they want to choose their leaders?"
Gifford is thoughtful and measured. He lived in China for much of the time since he arrived in 1987 as a language student. He's neither in the "panda hugger" or the "dragon slayer" camps so his conclusion that we can't take for granted that China's rise to greatness is inevitable, is sobering. According to Gifford, China is full of social and political fault lines that could rumble at anytime. He questions how long a 21st century economy can co-exist with a 1950s political system. "Once you let the people start choosing their pizza toppings how long will it be before they want to choose their leaders?"
posted by Kevcham at 8:22 PM
2 Comments:
I have the book on order from the library and will let you know how I liked it. Just from what you wrote about it, I think that I would agree with him. After traveling in China I think that trying to pull them back from their taste of capitalism will be like putting toothpaste back in the tube. Everyone there is an entrepreneur and very, very competitive.
I have almost finished the book and have enjoyed it very much. I think by getting out into the country he is getting a good perspective on the country as a whole. You really can't get that in the cities.
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