Hamilton College Government Professor Cheng Li, who is the author of a new book titled China's Leaders: The New Generation (Rowman and Littlefield), participated in a briefing at The Woodrow Wilson Center for Washington policy makers and reporters, and conducted a briefing for Congressional staffers at the Capitol. He was interviewed by media including Reuters, The Voice of America and the BBC.
A Reuters News Service article based on Li's interview said: "The generation of communist leaders now taking power in China is more capable and less dogmatic than its predecessors and U.S. policymakers need to take that into account to be effective, according to the author of a new book.
Cheng Li, a professor of government at Hamilton College and author of "China's Leaders, The New Generation" to be published next week, said on Wednesday the process of political succession in China was "'woefully misunderstood'" by the West.
"'Wrong perceptions about China's new leaders can make our policies toward China ineffective,'" he told a panel at the Woodrow Wilson Center. "'If our sights are distorted, our policies will be too,' he said."
Li's book looks at the career of the "fourth generation of leaders," who grew up during the Cultural Revolution, and explores the questions: Who will govern China at the dawn of the twenty-first century? What are the social backgrounds and career paths of the new generation of leaders? How do they differ from their predecessors in their responses to perplexing economic and sociopolitical challenges?
