Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2023

As seen in The Times, Sunday Times, Spectator, and on Tonight with Andrew Marr (LBC)

Under President Xi Jinping, China's global ambitions have taken a dangerous new turn. Bullying and intimidation have replaced diplomacy. Trade and investment, even big-spending tourists and students, have been weaponised. Beijing has strengthened its alliance with Vladimir Putin, supporting Russia's aggression in Ukraine, and brooks no criticism of its own flagrant human rights violations against the Uyghur population in western China.

Leaders in the West say they don't want a cold war with China, but it's a little late for that. Beijing is already waging a more complex, broader and more dangerous cold war than the old one with the Soviet Union. And it is intensifying.

This thought-provoking and alarming book examines this new cold war's many fronts - from Taiwan and the South China Sea to the Indian frontier, the Arctic and cyberspace. In doing so it proclaims the clear and sobering message that we must open our eyes to the reality of China's rise and its ruthless bid for global dominance.

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'This well respected journalist lays out a compelling case for why successive policies towards China have been unhelpful and how we are all going to be affected more dramatically by issues emanating from the country'

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'In this fascinating new book the former foreign correspondent, who’s covered China for Channel 4 and NBC News, asserts that the West is already engaged in a new Cold War with Xi Jinping’s regime...A fascinating, accessible guide to our new geopolitical reality'

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'a wide-ranging, meticulous study (with) detailed scholarship and depth of deduction and contemplation'

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‘China’s demented zero-Covid policy is no longer about health… it’s about power and mass surveillance’

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'Really, really good, a fascinating book to read. So if you are thinking of buying something for someone at Christmas, I suggest you find out more about China. Some of it is pretty scary stuff'