An issue with much reporting and literature on the risks of China engagement, which includes Cadre Country, is that it risks downplaying how Australia has benefitted from China engagement and people-to-people links. China remains Australia’s largest trading partner and scientific collaboration continues to produce positive benefits. While the Wuhan Laboratory remains the source of controversy, scientific cooperation has produced mutual benefits. For example, in January 2020, University of Sydney Professor Edward Holmes worked with Fudan University Professor, Zhang Yongzhen, who held the genomic information, to tweet the genome of SARS-CoV-2, which made it available to the world and allowed for the rapid development of COVID-19 testing and vaccines. The challenge for Australia is how to mitigate the risks while maintaining the benefits of open engagement. In the traditional account, China is a normal sovereign nation, one that happens to be ruled by a communist party, though it has reformed to enable significant capital markets to grow rich. It denies the public a say on the issues, yet there are clear responsibilities for the leadership (such as economic growth) which drive the political landscape. Award-winning historian John Fitzgerald focuses on the stories the Communist Party tells about itself, exploring how China works as an authoritarian state, and revealing Beijing's monumental propaganda productions as a fragile edifice built on questionable assumptions. Cadre Country is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the workings of the Chinese Communist Party and the limits of its achievements. One of the most important books on China written since Xi Jinping assumed power, Cadre Country is a forensic and profound explication of the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party.' - John Lee, Hudson Institute and United States Studies Centre

The Hoover Project on China’s Global Sharp Power invites you to"Cadre Country: How China became the Chinese Communist Party" on Wednesday, March 16, 2022,at 3:00 pm- 4:00 pm PT. John Fitzgeraldis an Emeritus Professor at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. He served for five years as China Representative of The Ford Foundation in Beijing (2008-2013) before heading the Asia-Pacific philanthropy studies program at Swinburne University. His books include Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia, awarded the Ernest Scott Prize of the Australian Historical Association, and Awakening China: Politics, Culture and Class in the Nationalist Revolution, awarded the Joseph Levenson Prize of the US Association for Asian Studies. Cadre Country: How China became the Chinese Communist Party is due for release in March 2022. Though Fitzgerald does not raise this question, I came away from the book wondering if it is even meaningful to call China a sovereign nation. Its 1.4 billion people are not the foundation of sovereignty in the eyes of the Party. Rather, it is the fact they were conquered and remain subservient across an extended history which has granted the legitimacy of rule for the Party-State to remain in control. When 'China' goes into the world, especially under Xi Jinping, the explicit core interests sought are the interests, preservation and welfare of the Party-State. Not the People-State. Essentially, the Party has been able to justify itself as the key driver of prosperity, improved social service delivery, and stability. This framing has resonated with enough Chinese ‘outsiders’, who have seen improvements in their quality of life compared to previous generations. Such ‘lived experience’ helps to justify the Party’s claim that change now is too risky. However, China’s poor economic growth in 2022, in part because of the CCP’s approach to COVID-19, may pose a significant challenge to Xi’s legitimacy. Delivery with Standard Australia Post usually happens within 2-10 business days from time of dispatch. Please be aware that the delivery time frame may vary according to the area of delivery and due to various reasons, the delivery may take longer than the original estimated timeframe.It takes decades of patient observation, experience and study of China to produce a book like this. Cadre Country is a must read for specialists and the general public.’ – Anita Chan, Australian National University The book pays particular attention to the history, language, and culture of the Communist Party but maintains a relentless focus on what has become of China since the Global Financial Crisis and in particular since Xi Jinping came to power. The party is in the act of swallowing a liberalised society, a marketized economy, and a diverse country. This matters for everyone, because the way China’s government behaves at home frames its conduct abroad. Award-winning historian John Fitzgerald focuses on the stories the Communist Party tells about itself, exploring how China works as an authoritarian state, and revealing Beijing’s monumental propaganda productions as a fragile edifice built on questionable assumptions.

Since the founding of the Communist Party in China just over a century ago, there is much the country has achieved. But who does the heavy lifting in China? And who walks away with the spoils? Cadre Country places the spotlight on the nation's 40 million cadres - the managers and government officials employed by the ruling Communist Party to protect its great enterprise. This group has captured the culture and wealth of China, excluding the voices of the common citizens of this powerful and diverse country. Since the founding of the Communist Party in China just over a century ago there is much the country has achieved but considerable dispute over who did all the heavy lifting, who should get the credit, and who in fact gets the spoils.Since the founding of the Communist Party in China just over a century ago, there is much the country has achieved. But who does the heavy lifting in China? And who walks away with the spoils? Cadre Country places the spotlight on the nation’s 40 million cadres – the managers and government officials employed by the ruling Communist Party to protect its great enterprise. This group has captured the culture and wealth of China, excluding the voices of the common citizens of this powerful and diverse country. Is Fitzgerald's account correct? I honestly don't know. I am not a China expert, nor even if I read 100 books like this could I be. He is one however, and even if it's wrong in parts, or pushes the line too far, it's a very helpful and compelling insight into the PRC. If this thesis is right, then other countries need to have - if I can be somewhat cheeky here - a 'Two China' policy. That is, a sense in every engagement with the PRC, whether they are dealing with the Party-State or the People-State, and how their actions may be interpreted or reflected by these two nations within the one entity we call 'China'.