Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Barry Li, Wiley, $29.95.
This book presents, according to Li, an opportunity to bridge the gap between today’s real China and the China you think you know. It’s an essential guide to the history, culture and mindset of Chinese migrants in Australia and of new China.
New Chinese are the Chinese people born on mainland China after 1949.
It also looks at how the new generation of Chinese migrants fared in finding their place in Australian society. Told from personal experience by Li, who left China and studied in Australia. Living in Sydney, Li is an auditor and a Certified Practising Accountant, who permanently immigrated to Australia in 2011.
The foreword from Glenda Korporaal (Associate Editor – Business, The Australian) speaks volumes: “The rise of modern China, with the opening up of its economy, has been one of the most important developments in our lifetime. China has become the second largest economy in the world. Many of these new Chinese that have settled here in Australia had a long journey to get here, yet few Australians understand how that journey came about”.
In the last three decades, China has transformed itself into one of the world’s leaders in political, economic and social relations. Understanding the culture, both from an Australian and a Chinese perspective, is sure to be valuable.
China Matters: Getting it Right for Australia
Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Bates Gill & Linda Jakobson, La Trobe University Press, $29.99.
It’s an important question: are Australia and China ready to face a new era. Linked to China, as never before, are Australia’s prosperity and security.
Written in a conversational, easy-to-process style, China Matters focuses on Chinese politics, economics and foreign relations today and their implications for Australia tomorrow.
The extensive research is evident and inquiries and responses give context.
Written by Australia-based internationally renowned China-watchers – Gill and Jakobson – it examines the country’s unique dynamism and contradictions. It delves into everything from business ties to the growing influence of the Chinese government in Australia.
The two experts take a concise look at modern China, its tensions and contradictions and pose questions about how it might use its power and influence in a time of rapid change and how Australia might respond.
