Has China Won? The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy
by Kishore Mahbubani (Public Affairs, £19.99)
Kishore Mahbubani is one of Asia’s bestknown policymakers and public intellectuals, who served for years as a senior Singaporean diplomat. Has China Won? is a compelling book on the tussle between the US and China for global supremacy. Mahbubani argues that China has an impressive story about its global role, if it just knew how to tell it. Whether it is the ability to lift millions out of poverty, or innovate in technology, the country has an alternative model that has attracted serious consideration, not least in the global south. He warns the US against thinking that its democratic values can be universalised. As the US declines under Donald Trump, China has gained influence by supporting the WTO and COP- 26. Mahbubani is particularly good on his home region, southeast Asia, where China’s diplomacy often succeeds in playing states off against one another.