Accidental Conflict: America, China, and the Clash of False Narratives. By Stephen Roach. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022. 448 pp. Illustrations. Hardcover, $32.50. ISBN: 978-0-300-25964-3. Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise. By Christopher Marquis and Kunyuan Qiao. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022. 384 pp. Illustrations. Hardcover, $30.00. ISBN: 978-0-300-26338-1.

Abstract

Few phrases in the discourse of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have proven as durable and pliable as “seeking truth from facts.” The phrase was first used by Mao Zedong in the 1930s as a way to legitimate the CCP's departure from Stalinist direction, and it was later mobilized by Deng Xiaoping to signal a shift from Maoism toward new avenues of policy experimentation. In recent years, as rising tensions in the US-China relationship have produced a burgeoning literature that seeks to understand and interpret Beijing's intentions for a Western audience, the phrase has become as applicable to the study of China as it has long been to the governance of China. This is not merely because the People's Republic of China (PRC) provides an endless source of raw material for speculation and analysis, obscured behind a veil of obfuscation, censorship, and propaganda constructed by the world's largest and most powerful political party. It is also because the stakes of the debate—coming at a time when the role of the West in general, and the United States in particular, has been thrown into doubt by social division, political dysfunction, and economic decline—seem to provide grounds for doubting the motives of anyone who aspires to take a stand on such a crucial yet ambiguous question as the true nature of CCP rule. With so many facts to choose from, how are we to know which will produce the right truths, and more importantly, who is doing the choosing and why?