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Friends and Enemies: The Past, Present and Future of the Communist Party of China
‘Friends and Enemies’ delivers a lucid and provocative history of one of the world’s largest and most successful political organizations, the Chinese Communist Party. In tracing the traumatic and bitter struggles that forged modern China and analysing the Party’s approach to the challenges of the future, Brown successfully lays bare the inner workings of this enduring and formidable group.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Kerry Brown
84 books80 followersKerry Brown is an author, columnist, Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute at King's College, London.
*From Kerry's Website.*: Prior to this he was the Professor of Chinese Politcs and Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He led the Europe China Research and Advice Network(ECRAN) funded by the European Union from 2011 to 2014. He is an Associate Fellow on the Asia Programme at Chatham House, London. His main interests are in the politics and society of modern China, in its international relations and its political economy.
Educated at Cambridge (MA), London (Post Graduate Diploma in Chinese with Distinction) and Leeds Universities (Ph D), he worked in Japan and the Inner Mongolian region of China,before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London in 1998. He worked in the China Section and then served as First Secretary, Beijing, from 2000 to 2003, and Head of the Indonesia East Timor Section at the FCO from 2003 to 2005.
Kerry Brown has been published in most major newspapers, commenting on China and Asia, including the New York Times, The Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Australian Financial Review, the Australian, the South China Morning Post, and the Financial Times. He has also been interviewed since 2006 by the BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, Bloomberg, ABC and other outlets. He had undertaken consultancy for Mizuho Bank, BP, Oxford Analytica, Hakluyt, Tesco and other corporates.
*From Kerry's Website.*: Prior to this he was the Professor of Chinese Politcs and Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He led the Europe China Research and Advice Network(ECRAN) funded by the European Union from 2011 to 2014. He is an Associate Fellow on the Asia Programme at Chatham House, London. His main interests are in the politics and society of modern China, in its international relations and its political economy.
Educated at Cambridge (MA), London (Post Graduate Diploma in Chinese with Distinction) and Leeds Universities (Ph D), he worked in Japan and the Inner Mongolian region of China,before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London in 1998. He worked in the China Section and then served as First Secretary, Beijing, from 2000 to 2003, and Head of the Indonesia East Timor Section at the FCO from 2003 to 2005.
Kerry Brown has been published in most major newspapers, commenting on China and Asia, including the New York Times, The Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Australian Financial Review, the Australian, the South China Morning Post, and the Financial Times. He has also been interviewed since 2006 by the BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, Bloomberg, ABC and other outlets. He had undertaken consultancy for Mizuho Bank, BP, Oxford Analytica, Hakluyt, Tesco and other corporates.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 11, 2017
This was a very detailed overview of the rise of the Chinese Communist Party, and left me feeling like an idiot for not realising that the Chinese government and the Communist Party are actually 2 separate entities. I would definitely recommend to anyone that wants to improve their understanding of modern China.
I just didn't really understand the writer's conclusion that China must introduce a democracy by 2020 because the current system is unsustainable. The communist system has been in place for 68 years and will soon become the longest-lasting communist regime in power, overtaking the USSR. Surely that means it's already pretty sustainable? Also, I think it would be extremely difficult to introduce some sort of proportional representation in China similar to what we have in the west, simply because of the sheer size of the country and the magnitude of the divide between rich and poor, and rural and urban areas. The disparity is so great that I think at the moment it just wouldn't be possible because everyone's current interests are so different.
I just didn't really understand the writer's conclusion that China must introduce a democracy by 2020 because the current system is unsustainable. The communist system has been in place for 68 years and will soon become the longest-lasting communist regime in power, overtaking the USSR. Surely that means it's already pretty sustainable? Also, I think it would be extremely difficult to introduce some sort of proportional representation in China similar to what we have in the west, simply because of the sheer size of the country and the magnitude of the divide between rich and poor, and rural and urban areas. The disparity is so great that I think at the moment it just wouldn't be possible because everyone's current interests are so different.
Displaying 1 of 1 review