Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China's Push for Global Power Paperback – February 20, 2018

The author is an incredibly well informed journalist and a masterful story teller but difficult to read after a point because he is captured with the concept of tian xia one under heaven the ancient Chinese concept of the Emperor being the centre of the universe and all subservient to him, the broader reading being the Middle Kingdom is paramount others owe tribute.For French this concept as he mentions has ancestral roots flowing back to his grandfather and father and “although it was not a guiding motivation in my research,” he carries that perception as driving Chinese actions in past and contemporary settings and this heavily colors his analysis. Add to this the subtitle ‘China’s Push for Global Power’ and you have a negative reading of Chinese actions as self centered threatening and ominous. Book One.This part is slow going at times and you may want to skim for the unifying ‘tian xia’ summaries.Book Two is his Conclusion.He lets go of trying to show the historical China and settles into an insightful rendering of China as it is and as it likely will be in coming decades and the interactions with its many neighbors in the pursuit of Xi Jinping’s ‘One Belt One Road.’*For those who are concerned with China’s impact on America as China moves into position as another world power his analysis should be comforting, America will do well he believes.*There are two other works that covers the topic without an ideological cover than are compliments to French’s and focuses on China’s role in its current scheme for leadership: China’s Asian Dream: Empire Building along the New Silk Road by British journalist Tom Miller. Excellent coverage of details and possible conflicts.And a most recent release: Asia's Reckoning: China, Japan, and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century, by Richard McGregor that covers French’s Book One history without the driving ‘tian xia’ overlay, for often very different outcomes worth knowing.

The book ties China's hyper-drive present to its intricate past, combining deep scholarship, hard-reality reporting and elegant writing. "China's conceptualization of power" is one phrase the author uses, and in many ways it sums up this brilliant book. It has a superb analysis of the history and current status of the Ryukyu Islands, formerly a kingdom, now the Okinawa islands of Japan. The small island kingdom kept its quasi-independence for centuries, even as it exhibited loyalty to both Chinese and Japanese emperors. The Ryukyu/Okinawa Islands are in focus again today, as they are part of the militarizing fault line between China under Xi Jinping and the middle kingdom's neighbors-- but the Ryukyus are just one part of a larger and ominous fault line that is exposed and investigated in this book. If you have any interest in East Asia, today's global power shifts, or the rise and fall and rise of nations, this is a must-read.

Howard French dissects China's fixation for harmonious hierarchy in the Indo-Pacific, citing historic roots of regional dependence and animosity with Mainland and connecting it with Beijing's current bid to become the preeminent world power. French's in-depth look into China's often tumultuous political and economic relationship between Vietnam and Japan (despite the similarities of the two with the Mainland) sheds light on the historic mistrust of both countries toward their larger neighbor.Chapter Six' focus on the South China Sea and the 2018 afterword grounds French's analysis, taking into consideration Beijing's courtship of the ASEAN vis-a-vis the maritime dispute and Donald Trump's revision (or disruption, depends who you ask) of decades-long US foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific.While the book sometimes takes a US-centric approach, I still learned a great deal due to French's use of concepts in International Relations theory.This is a must read for any academic, political analyst, or politician who seeks to better understand how China's history colors its current policies.

With China emerging as a world power capable of competing with the USA, I wanted more insight into what drives its leadership. This book was an excellent choice. It is clearly written, well organized, and comprehensive. It provides a historical perspective on China and its perception of its relationship to the rest of the world (the "barbarians"), especially its immediate neighbors. It certainly enlightened me about its relationships with Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. It also covers developments in the last 50 years as China has marched onto the world stage as a major player. The book doesn't cover its industrial and commercial growth very deeply or its social makeup, but it does enough to be appropriate. You can't go wrong reading this book. Three thumbs up!

An important book for anybody trying to understand the underlying guiding principles behind China's actions in Asia. It outlines the Chinese understanding of self and their assumed inherent leadership of their sphere based on a sense of cultural superiority. This is the organizing principle that interprets their quest for economic and cultural dominance among its ancient tributary states. To accomplish their aim, they seek to exclude the United States from the region and reassert primacy.The book is a bit long on a hard to follow history which sets the context for the present but because of its unfamiliarity, is a bit dense.The takeaway is hat China is reassuming and reassertimg its role as a great power, and in doing so will inevitably attempt push aside all others in Southeast Asia, including the United States. Whether it succeeds depends on the staying power of each great power in the struggle.

Excellent explanation showing clearly China’s intentions.