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Under President Xi Jinping, China’s global ambitions have taken a dangerous new turn. Bullying and intimidation have replaced diplomacy, and trade, investment, even big-spending tourists and students have been weaponised. Beijing has strengthened its alliance with Vladimir Putin, supporting Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and brooks no criticism of its own flagrant human rights violations against the Uyghur population in western China.
Western leaders say they don’t want a cold war with China, but it’s a little too late for that. Beijing is already waging a more complex, broader and more dangerous cold war than the old one with the Soviet Union. And it is intensifying.
This thought-provoking and alarming book examines this new cold war’s many fronts – from Taiwan and the South China Sea to the Indian frontier, the Arctic and cyberspace. In doing so it proclaims the clear and sobering message that we must open our eyes to the reality of China’s rise and its ruthless bid for global dominance.
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‘A warning about the rise of China, its global ambitions and why it’s time for the West to “wake up”’
— The Courier, 3 September 2022
‘A fascinating, accessible guide to our new geopolitical reality’
James Wilson, Tortoise Media, 11 August 2022
‘In May the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that the Biden Administration was not seeking a new Cold War with China. Ian Williams thinks it’s a little too late for that. In this fascinating new book the former foreign correspondent, who’s covered China for Channel 4 and NBC News, asserts that the West is already engaged in a new Cold War with Xi Jinping’s regime, and that economic integration and Beijing’s arms buildup make this one far more dangerous than our frozen stand-off with the Soviets. While a decent portion of The Fire of the Dragon is understandably focused on the dispute over Taiwan, the book also covers China’s movements in the arctic, its cyber capabilities, its frosty relationship with India and its ever-closer friendship with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. A fascinating, accessible guide to our new geopolitical reality.
Taipei, May 2022
Interviewing Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, and digital minister Audrey Tang in May 2022 during a visit to the island while researching my new book, Fire of the Dragon: China’s New Cold War
