Weak spots in the Chinese miracle

Frank Dikotter's new book puts the spotlight on the many vulnerabilities that bedevil China and could lead to an unravelling of its increasingly debt-fuelled economy

China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower

Author: Frank Dikotter

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 416

Price: Rs 699

The Dutch historian of contemporary China, Frank Dikotter, is best known for his trilogy — The Tragedy of Liberation (1945-57), Mao’s Great Famine (1958-62) and The Cultural Revolution (1962-78).  

These are all fine works, drawing upon Chinese archives wherever these are accessible and exploring the complex interplay of power and ideology in determining the tumultuous trajectory of modern 

China. Dr Dikotter’s latest offering, China After Mao, picks up the China story from 1978 onwards, covering the period of “Reform and Opening Up”. It traces the shift in Chinese strategic