Books by Olivia Cheung
Olivia Cheung is Research Fellow of the China Institute at SOAS University of London. She was educated at Oxford where she was a Swire Scholar and a Rhodes Scholar. She previously taught at the University of Warwick, where she was Course Director for the MA in International Politics and East Asia. She is the author of Factional-ideological Conflicts in Chinese Politics: To the Left or to the Right?
“China after Mao Zedong, even under Deng Xiaoping, was really a situation of factional power-sharing, of factional power balances and contestation of power. No single leader could monopolise all powers in their own hands. In my book, I went through some very major policy reforms in China under Deng Xiaoping and argued how uncertain it all was—how, quite often, those reforms nearly didn’t make it. When they did make it, there were a lot of political struggles, a lot of compromises, a lot of give and take, and a lot of concessions. All this showed that Deng Xiaoping really wasn’t that powerful: there were major political factions that he needed to respect, that he needed to consult, and that he needed to trade advantages with, in order to push through an agenda. Another important aspect is that the Chinese Communist Party isn’t just an organ of interests…it’s also an organ of political ideas. This is something that we almost forget when we think about China because of how rich it has become, and how it seems like everyone is so focused on making money and making their lives better. Deng Xiaoping embodied that image…What my solo book shows is that even within the party there are different ideologies, different political values, and they are all very much alive. Powerful party leaders use those values to debate with each other, to shape different policies, to try to undermine existing policies or existing narratives, to push through their own visions, and so on. There’s lively political debate, and that’s because there are many different ideas rather than because there are no ideas. That’s an important point to make.” Read more...
“What’s interesting about the book Steve Tsang and I just wrote, The Political Thought of Xi Jinping (2024), is that we go beyond Xi Jinping as the powerful centralised leader to get really close to what he wants to achieve. What is his vision? What are his intentions? What does he want to do for the party, for China, and for the world in different policy areas? That is what makes our book different from a straightforward biography of Xi Jinping. We’re going not just into the background of this man but also what his thinking is, as articulated by him.” Read more...
Interviews with Olivia Cheung
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1
Xi: A Study in Power
by Kerry Brown -
2
The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State
by Elizabeth Economy -
3
Xi Jinping: The Hidden Agendas of China’s Ruler for Life
by Willy Lam -
4
Dictatorship by Degrees: Xi Jinping in China
by Steven Feldman -
5
The Politics of the Core Leader in China: Culture, Institution, Legitimacy, and Power
by Xuezhi Guo
The best books on Xi Jinping, recommended by Olivia Cheung
The best books on Xi Jinping, recommended by Olivia Cheung
Despite his own and his family’s suffering under Maoism, China’s president, Xi Jinping, has turned his back on some of the reforms of the past four decades, dismantling safeguards designed to ensure that some of the disasters of that era never happen again. Olivia Cheung, a research fellow at SOAS and co-author of The Political Thought of Xi Jinping, recommends books to better understand China’s leader and his quest to build a new world order—led by China and admired by all.
Interviews where books by Olivia Cheung were recommended
-
1
Xi: A Study in Power
by Kerry Brown -
2
The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State
by Elizabeth Economy -
3
Xi Jinping: The Hidden Agendas of China’s Ruler for Life
by Willy Lam -
4
Dictatorship by Degrees: Xi Jinping in China
by Steven Feldman -
5
The Politics of the Core Leader in China: Culture, Institution, Legitimacy, and Power
by Xuezhi Guo
The best books on Xi Jinping, recommended by Olivia Cheung
The best books on Xi Jinping, recommended by Olivia Cheung
Despite his own and his family’s suffering under Maoism, China’s president, Xi Jinping, has turned his back on some of the reforms of the past four decades, dismantling safeguards designed to ensure that some of the disasters of that era never happen again. Olivia Cheung, a research fellow at SOAS and co-author of The Political Thought of Xi Jinping, recommends books to better understand China’s leader and his quest to build a new world order—led by China and admired by all.
