This is a workmanlike analysis of certain Chinese perceptions of the United States, based on an exhaustive examination of articles published in the 1990s in six leading Chinese academic journals. The author is Deputy Director of the Asia-Pacific Institute at the School of International Relations, Xiamen University. This book is the published version of his Ohio State University doctoral dissertation. One major chapter, on Chinese perceptions of American power, appeared first in Asian Survey in 2005.
The book proceeds in a sensibly structured way. Zhang opens with the central questions: “Is China a status quo or a revisionist country, and what is China's motivation vis à vis the United States?” (p. 13). He then reviews the foundational social science literature, defines the “perceivers” (i.e., those who have the “perceptions” he will analyze), delineates his sources, explains his choice of subject matter for each of the remaining chapters of the book,...
