ABSTRACT
The foregoing chapters in this volume seek the impossible: to forecast the future of China. Readers should soberly note that the Sinological landscape is littered with previous prognostications. Some have proved insightful and reasonably prescient, while many foundered on the complexities and realities of China. Many of those that proved wrong were mistaken attempts to impose logics, ideologies and analyses developed outside, or templates developed for the study of other systems and societies (such as the former Soviet Union). While China is not completely sui generis, it nonetheless has its own intrinsic dynamics. While insights derived from other systems – whether communist systems, developing nations, East Asian states or newly industrialized countries – can offer insights into China’s developments, they are far from sufficient to understand and predict the future of China today and over the next five years.
