Description
Book SynopsisHostile Forces shines a light on how China has learned to manage, manipulate, and resist foreign pressure on human rights, and illustrates how support for authoritarian and nationalist policies can actually grow in response to such critiques from powers within the liberal international system.
Trade ReviewIn this provocative new study, Jamie Gruffydd-Jones argues that international criticism of human rights violations by the Chinese government have not worked and are unlikely to without a fundamental change of strategy. Everyone interested in the promotion of human rights, in China or elsewhere, needs to read this book and heed its advice. * Bruce Dickson, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University *
This study offers a rich and important analysis of why international human rights campaigns that target major authoritarian regimes, like China, have yielded little success. Gruffydd-Jones demonstrates how these campaigns are selectively co-opted by Chinese authorities for propaganda purposes, and how they are often treated with suspicion by the public, especially when the critiques are communicated by China's main rival-the United States. This book is a timely reminder that great power rivalry can overshadow transnational human rights advocacy, and that authoritarian regimes are increasingly adept at diverting international condemnation into a powerful nationalistic sentiment. * Maria Repnikova, Georgia State University *
Democracies routinely criticize the human rights practices of autocracies. Is this criticism effective? This important book that should be widely read by policymakers documents that when the US criticizes China alone, Chinese citizens tend to rally around the government. In contrast, multilateral criticism is much more effective in shaping public opinion in China. * Erin Baggott Carter, Stanford University *
Jamie Gruffydd-Jones has written an important book examining the Chinese Communist Party's response to criticism on human rights. He explains why, when, and how Beijing permits human rights messages to pierce China's information bubble. His theoretical framework and case studies yield insights into which types of foreign critiques are most likely to trigger reforms and which are more likely to backfire, being used for propaganda purposes by China and other autocratic regimes. * Zack Cooper, American Enterprise Institute *
A fascinating read. * Choice *
In a context of growing criticism of China's human rights violations, Jamie Gruffydd-Jones makes a valuable contribution in analysing the backlash and unintended consequences that this criticism might prompt as well as its impact on Chinese citizens. * Christelle Genoud, Europe-Asia Studies *
