Centrifugal Empire, by Jae Ho Chung (preface)

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Preface

This is my third single-authored book in English. Sixteen years since the publication of my first book on central–local relations with the case of rural reforms of the early 1980s, I am both happy and relieved to come back to the subject of my lifelong passion, which is also one of the most crucial and cross-cutting themes in Chinese politics. Particularly given that the number of books devoted to China’s central–local dynamics has been on the decline since the late 1990s, I harbor some modest expectations that this volume will contribute to a better understanding of complex central–local relations in the past three decades of system reforms.

Many individuals and institutions provided invaluable support and encouragement in the long process of research and publication of this book and deserve thankful acknowledgment. Anita Chan, Bruce J. Dickson, Tao-chiu Lam, Kenneth Lieberthal, Margaret Pearson, Sangbum Shin, Dorothy J. Solinger, Jonathan Unger, and Yukyung Yeo offered critical but useful comments on different parts of the draft manuscript. Three chapters of the book were originally presented at the Asian Network for the Study of Local China (ANSLoC), which was established in 2006. I am thankful to its cofounding members and good old friends—John Donaldson, Phil Hsu, Tse-Kang Leng, and Long Yang in particular—for having been indispensable sources of encouragement and inspiration for the entire period of research and writing for this book.

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The rewriting, editing, and refining of the manuscript benefited enormously during my third sabbatical leave (2014–2015) from Seoul National University. Several institutions provided financial and logistical support for research stay, as well as valuable venues where draft chapters were presented and commented on. My sincere gratitude is due the East Asian Institute (Singapore), and Gungwu Wang and Yongnian Zheng; Singapore Management University and James Tang; the University of Hong Kong, and John Burns and Peter T. Y. Cheung; Fudan University’s School of International Studies and Zhimin Chen (I am also thankful to Ruichang Li, Yalin Tang, and Lixin Wang for offering useful comments and providing additional materials for the paper I presented there in October 2014); the Institute for Political Science at the Academia Sinica and Yu-Shan Wu; and the Samsung Economic Research Institute and Ki-Young Chung.

Some portions of chapter 3 are adapted from “China’s ‘City System’ in Flux: Explaining Post-Mao Administrative Changes,” China Quarterly, no. 180 (December 2004), and chapter 5 is a modified version of “China’s Local Governance in Perspective: Instruments of Central Government Control,” China Journal, no. 75 (January 2016).

I must also acknowledge the invaluable support (including one term of the Hysan Lee Fellowship) I received over the years from the Universities Service Center for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Without the archival research conducted there, this book could not have become what it is now. I thank the former and current assistant directors, Jean Hung and Gao Qi, for their unstinted support. I would also like to thank my former students Yongkai Liu, Jieun Kim, and Jongyoon Baek for research assistance. Thanks are also due three anonymous readers who read the entire manuscript for Columbia University Press.

Anne Routon, my editor, was indispensable as a manager, supporter, and good friend for the entire, often painstaking process.

Last but not least, I am grateful to my wife, Hye Kyung, whose unpunctuated prayers for the last twenty-seven years made all this possible.

I hope my daughter, Jean, whose interest in China and the Chinese language has been increasing over the past years, may also appreciate this book in due time.

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Praise for Centrifugal Empire “Centrifugal Empire provides a wide-ranging, historically grounded, empirically rich, and intellectually challenging exploration of central–local relations in China and of various approaches to dealing with them. It greatly enriches our understanding of how issues in central–local relations are contouring both reforms and their likely outcomes in contemporary China.”

Kenneth Lieberthal, senior fellow in foreign policy and global economy and development, The Brookings Institutioe

“Long one of our premier specialists on central–local relations in China, Jae Ho Chung has produced his most comprehensive, innovative, and definitive treatise yet on this often puzzling subject. He concludes that we can find much of the long historical past in the current regime’s deep-seated urges and incessant struggles to remain atop efforts of lower-echelon striving for place and power. This book is meticulously researched, ripe with multiple analytical distinctions, and rich in nuance. It is the source to consult on this topic.”

Dorothy J. Solinger, University of California, Irvine

“Over recent years, Chung has established himself as probably the expert on central–local relations in China. This book is extremely comprehensive, and pulls together and extends the concerns Chung has developed elsewhere. It is well researched, contains a great deal of useful material, raises many questions, and should be widely read by specialists.”

Joseph Fewsmith, Boston University

“Chung gives a novel answer to the oldest problem in Chinese governance: how does Beijing—or the center—control local administrations? He draws a key conclusion: the center’s ability to shape local outcomes has actually increased over time, in spite of marketization and new local interests. Instead of weakening the regime, local governance has become an asset to ensure its resilience.”

François Godement, director of the Asia and China Programme and senior policy fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations

“Chung is widely recognized as the leading scholar on the politics of central–local relations in China. This highly readable book, set in an historical context, draws on his expertise and insights to elucidate the Chinese national government’s multifaceted efforts today to control regional and local governments.”

Jonathan Unger, editor of The China Journal

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