Seeking Truth and Hiding Facts

Information, Ideology, and Authoritarianism in China

By: Jeremy L. Wallace

Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan

A unique analysis of the numbers that came to define Chinese politics and how this quantification evolved over time.

For decades, a few numbers came to define Chinese politics—until those numbers did not count what mattered and what they counted did not measure up. Seeking Truth and Hiding Facts argues that the Chinese government adopted a system of limited, quantified vision in order to survive the disasters unleashed by Mao Zedong's ideological leadership. Jeremy Wallace explains how that system worked and analyzes how the problems that accumulated in its blind spots led Xi Jinping to take drastic action. Xi's neopolitical turn—aggressive anti-corruption campaigns, reassertion of party authority, and personalization of power—is an attempt to fix the problems of the prior system, as well as a hedge against an inability to do so. The book argues that while of course dictators stay in power through coercion and cooptation, they also do so by convincing their populations and themselves of their right to rule. Quantification is one tool in this persuasive arsenal, but it comes with its own perils.

©2023 Oxford University Press (P)2023 Tantor

Mediocre book

Book was dry and a bit boring. Info was ok, though the chapter at the end about covid was disappointing and a bit uninformed. Still giving credence to the ‘wet market’ farce, and too much glorification of China’s response to it. CCP hid bad statistics way more than he realized. Commentary on the US’ response also seemed misinformed.

The author is so much under qualified.

The author holds a very negative view on/off China. He is too much under qualified to discuss any issues on the book; not to mention the huge theme of the book. Such a waste of my time. I want my money back !