Book review: Breakneck, by Dan Wang

If you want to understand China and its distinctive relationship to the United States, then framing it as communism vs capitalism isn’t helpful, argues Dan Wang. Instead, think of the differences between lawyers and engineers.

“China is an engineering state, building at breakneck speed, in contrast to the United States’ lawyerly society, blocking everything it can, good or bad.” This isn’t theoretical. Xi Jinping is a chemical engineer by training. His predecessor, Hu Jintao, was a hydro...