Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World by Clive Hamilton

Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World Reviews

• 
  Antigone

  There are many voices in Australia currently sounding the alarm about the CCP. This would be the Chinese Communist Party, which differs in great degree from the Chinese people - although the Party would prefer you not pay too much attention to that. Yet the distinction is important. Especially in an age when the charge of racism is being conscientiously applied to systems and behaviors. The Chinese Communist Party likes to use such charges to further their reach into Western domains, and if clarifications are made between opposing an authoritarian system of government versus opposing equal rights for a race of human beings, well, that's going to throw a wrench into the works of the CCP's blueprint for world domination.
  
  Australia is taking these distinctions very seriously, no doubt because it is struggling to combat the very real infiltration of Communist operatives, Communist funding, and assorted Communist stratagems throughout the fabric of its society. Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg have written a book to let other nations know this is not an isolated intrusion. Your country is currently experiencing this as well. And they go on to tell you how. In detail.
  
  This book is less a tale of the Chinese Communist Party's incursion into Western countries than it is a literal accounting of it - meaning the text reads very much like a directory of names, corporations, institutions, relationships, and enterprises that have already been influenced and/or infiltrated by the CCP's operatives and philosophical persuasions. From government figures to financial companies, media outlets, colleges, think tanks, the arts and more; a host of identities are revealed and connections bared that should, in fact, concern us. It's a very dry approach to conveying information that triggers the reader's instinct to scan, but that doesn't make its content any less relevant. Or shocking.
  
  Those interested in tracking the Communist footprint as it travels through the networks of the modern world, should probably take a look at this.
  
• 
  Sean Neun

  I’ve read this book in German as the English edition will only be released in September.
  I came across it after having read more about the techniques of the Chinese communist party.
  This book is deeply unsettling especially considering that we are living in this global reality in which they are claiming more and more rights.
  I am left wanting to participate in protest and wanting to become an advocate for those suffering under the Chinese system.
  So there you have it. This is a book confronts you with an evil that needs to be beaten and it makes a clear distinction between the regime and the humans actually suffering from it themselves.
• 
  Henning

  Some time should be taken for reading this book. The international entanglement and rapidly growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party is extremely complex and multifaceted.
  In order to really understand what connections exist within the party apparatus, of course, it takes more than just this one book by Clive Hamilton.
  To get an insight into this topic and to develop an idea of how far the CCP is already anchored in almost every area of the western world, the book is quite suitable.
• 
  Mark O'mara

  Five stars for detail but 3 for writing style. I’d doubt there is any book more thoroughly revealing the clear intent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government and the ways in which that intent is supported directly by CCP actions in the West. The culpability of western governments; Wall Street, London, Berlin, French etc business leaders; ex Presidents & PMs; practically all universities, Hollywood, the NBA, media, the UN etc etc etc in dealing with the CCP in ignorance (the kindest interpretation) is stark and revealing to greed and a lack of true commitment to freedom and human rights. Talk is cheap (celebrities, politicians, sports stars) but when the rubber hits the road and dollars are a stake their actions toward the CCP talk louder than their moral virtue signalling.
  This book is essential reading, jammed packed in every paragraph with detail also a bit of a grind but a necessary one. The book reveals a CCP that knows exactly what it wants, what it is doing and how it aims to achieve it. It isn’t hard to argue, based on this book’s evidence, that the political, business, cultural, academic and intellectual elites in the West are be comprehensively played by the CCP. Given the value the CCP puts in freedom, human life & dignity this is bad news indeed.
• 
  Owlseyes

  
  https://amp.theguardian.com/books/202...
  
  Or, the hidden hand of the red 🐼
• 
  Luddite

  This is a forensic examination of the ideology, doctrine, organisation, execution, and effect of the Chinese Communist Party's decades-long infiltration of 'the West,' and the threat this poses to the stability of our countries. Popularly written but rigorously researched, this is no anti-China screed: it's a very specific Red Alert that the CCP's political programme is shrouded by our very openness, has leveraged the West's insatiable greed, and has turned these two elements back on ourselves. We've only recently woken up in Australia to the fact that our party political system has been white-anted by the CCP, and our Chinese Australian community (and the core logic of multi-cultural harmony) subverted by CCP operatives through a combination of persuasion, ignorance, menacing, money, overwhelm, nationalist propaganda, charm, and sheer organisation. In the most egregious case, the young Chinese Australia businessman Bo 'Nick' Zhao was probably murdered in March 2019 after courageously reporting to our security services CCP attempts to inveigle him into the electoral system. But this is just the pointiest end of a huge, well-funded, militarised effort to achieve the CCP's domestic stability by delivering prosperity and security to the Chinese people. The CCP programme can be well understood because they've written their theory and intentions down and it's all very public, if poorly understood because of sheer scale and audacity. It uses the Maoist strategy of "the country surrounding the city," and what has been running for decades is now supercharged by the velocity of China's economic rise. We tend to think of the media, politicians, business, finance, academia, think-tanks, ordinary communities, spy agencies, the military, the arts and culture, and religious institutions as discrete social pods, necessarily separated for their individual efficiency and the well-being of our socio-political system. Domestically, the CCP clearly does not, and this command and control system now extends, in the most apparently benign guise, across the West. It's in the media, academia and research, huge business enterprises and, most worryingly, in our own "useful idiots" – political and ex-military – who have swallowed the bait, taken the CCP's shilling, and are now so embedded in the CCP/China discourse that they can't or won't retreat.
• 
  Sense Hofstede

  This book’s contribution is putting together a comprehensive list of important and worrying facts and events. However, unfortunately it is not much more than that. All the points are simply strung together, often with little care, leading to some mistakes. There is little theory to guide the argument nor reflection on how impactful certain connections really are. There is no appraisal of the complicated interplay between Party and agents, who often have their own interests to use each other. What we have are the research notes that would be the starting point for a more carefully ordered and precisely formulated inquiry into what the CCP is attempting to do and how effective that really is.
• 
  Nick Lucarelli

  5 stars for content, 3 for execution.
  
  A frightening read into the way in which the CCP has expanded its influence abroad in the past 50 years by targeting governments, universities, the Chinese diaspora, media outlets, international organisations and businesses, often behind the guise of non-state actors that, on closer inspection, all are proxies for the CCP. Through a combination of bullying, censorship and bribery of organisations and sectors over which it holds or has gained influence, the Party has silenced many of its critics and sought to rewrite its narritive in the eyes of the West. With that being said, it is important not to conflate the CCP with its people or the state of China when criticising it.
  
  Unfortunately this book is written with the enthusiasm and passion of a flaccid erection. If countless acronyms, dizzyingly complex webs and chains of command and lists of Western and Oriental figures involved in this cold war are your aphrodisiac, then it may leave you more satisfied than it did me.
• 
  David Canford

  This book is an eye-opener. I skimmed through a fair amount of it as there is so much detail to absorb, but the central message came through loud and clear. The Chinese Communist Party, CCP, is putting enormous resource into controlling the narrative about China and its goals.
  Not only do western politicians fail to challenge it - who knew that Senate leader Mitch McConnell, married to the daughter of a wealthy Chinese businessman who has given the couple millions, absents himself from the floor when resolutions critical of China are to be voted on? Across the political spectrum, many well-known names are supportive of the Communist Party’s narrative.
  The same goes for business - Apple and VW to name but two - which turns a blind eye to safeguard their trade in China. The CCP has also made significant inroads into western media and funded many western universities so that it has a lever to stop them criticising China thus preventing academic freedom of expression. There seems little good news here - China’s ability to repress and misrepresent the truth appears to be growing ever stronger. It kidnaps its citizens who dare to reveal the truth from foreign countries and intimidates Chinese immigrants in other countries into towing the party line.
  One bright spot was the refusal of the Mayor of Prague to be browbeaten. As part of twinning his city with Beijing, China was insisting on the Mayor affirming that Taiwan was part of China. He refused on the grounds that twinning was a cultural, not political matter. Despite China’s threats that they would stop Chinese tourists visiting Prague, the Mayor refused and has twinned with Taipei instead.
• 
  Buchdoktor

  „Wandel durch Handel“ ist eine der fatalsten Fehleinschätzungen westlicher Politiker. Die Vorstellung, materieller Wohlstand würde in der übrigen Welt durch die offensichtliche Überlegenheit westlicher Demokratien zur Demokratisierung führen, erwies sich als Illusion. Wirtschaftswachstum ist kein Antrieb demokratischer Prozesse. Eine Verbesserung des Konsumgüterangebots scheint die Mittelschichten Indiens und Chinas keineswegs zur Kritik zu animieren, sondern sie eher passiv und desinteressiert an Politik zurückzulassen. Wer als Gewinner der Verhältnisse selbst satt ist, zeigt kaum Interesse an Menschenrechten, Bildung und medizinischer Versorgung für alle. Man könnte die Fehleinschätzung auf kulturelle Überheblichkeit des Westens zurückführen, der sich und das eigene Modell für den Mittelpunkt der Welt hält. Der Mittelpunkt der Welt ist längst von China besetzt, das sich durch Wirtschaftskrisen und Konflikte westlicher Demokratien bestätigt sieht, das eigene System sei dem anderer Staaten überlegen.
  
  Der häufigste Satz in Hamilton/Ohlbergs hochaktuellem Schwarzbuch chinesischen Einflusses lautet „Sie verstehen es nicht“. Ausländer verstehen nicht, dass die Kommunistische Partei Chinas nie eine Demokratisierung plante. Sie verstehen nicht, dass die eigenen Konzepte von Freundschaft, Volk oder Ordnung nicht 1:1 übertragbar sind und man sich mit den Sitten anderer Nationen auseinandersetzen sollte, ehe man dort Geschäfte macht. Dass „Freundschaft“ eine politische Formel sein kann mit der Erwartung streng ritualisierten Verhaltens, ist westlichen Besuchern häufig fremd. Besonders Politiker fallen mit der Unbedarftheit auf, mit der sie sich von Verhandlungspartnern über den Tisch ziehen lassen und sich gegen ein wenig Schmeichelei oder eine Ehrendoktorwürde das nationale „Tafelsilber“ abschwatzen lassen. Eine häufige Kommunikationsfalle ist für Ausländer neben der falschen Interpretation des Begriffes Freundschaft die Gleichsetzung Chinas mit dem chinesischen Volk unter Ignorierung des Einflusses der Einheitspartei.
  
  Hamilton/Ohlberg befassen sich mit der Verflechtung wirtschaftlicher, politischer und kultureller Interessen, die so manchen Staat in eine Situation des No-Return gebracht hat, in der China bereits den zukünftigen Kurs bestimmt. Die aufgelisteten Verbindungen sind sorgfältig durch Quellenangaben belegt und stammen aus den USA, Australien, Kanada und Europa, auch aus Deutschland. Die Quellenangaben umfassen stolze 88 Seiten. Wenn konkret geschäftliche Interessen deutscher Politiker und Meinungsführer aufgelistet werden, ist das eindrucksvoller als Geschäfte chinesischer Politikerkinder.
  
  Neben chinesischen Investition in ausländische Versorgungsbetriebe, Häfen und Pressekonzerne sehen die Autoren eine lange Liste an Sorgenkindern: Einfluss von Sponsoren auf Lehre und Forschung, Verstrickung der Eliten, Selbstzensur und vorauseilender Gehorsam auf allen Ebenen, die „geopolitsche Neuordnung“ durch die Neue Seidenstraße, Cyberattacken auf persönliche Daten, das 5G-Netz – all das unterlegt mit mangelhaften Chinakenntnissen und fragwürdigen Beratern.
  
  Manche Urteile sind mir zu einseitig und klischeehaft in ihrer Kritik an der KPCh. Wer im Kontakt zu China aus Unkenntnis oder Selbstüberschätzung über den Tisch gezogen wird, ist selbst an der Situation nicht unbeteiligt. Politikern und ganzen Staaten ist durchaus zumutbar aus Blamagen ihrer Vorgänger zu lernen.
  
  Das Buch ist akribisch recherchiert, auch für deutsche Leser interessant und mit Ereignissen bis ins Jahr 2020 zurzeit hochaktuell.
  
• 
  Tom McGuire

  The text was more like a catalog of information than a narrative of a relationship between nations. The authors did not give enough attention to the historical and cultural context of Chinese international relations. The authors have contributed to the destructive forces of cold war rather than showing how to avoid it.
• 
  Ben Rogers

  This was an exceptional read.
  
  Another really eye opening political science book. I'm really enjoying this genre.
  
  Learned a lot.
  
  Very interesting book.
  
  Scary at times.
  
  Interested in more?
  Would recommend reading this alongside
  Claws of the Panda: Beijing's Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada,
  Stealth War: How China Took Over While America's Elite Slept, and
  Wilful Blindness: How a Criminal Network of Narcos, Tycoons and CCP Agents Infiltrated the West.
  
  4.7/5
• 
  Jacob Stelling

  An interesting discussion of the CCP’s influence in western countries. Each chapter offered an insight into a different area where the CCP is influencing western democracies, and offers strategies to counter this influence.
  
  On the whole, I felt this book to be rather repetitive of some of its main points, with each chapter reading as a statement of intent followed by countless examples, with little analysis. While an important topic, I feel the author could have refined the writing itself a bit more and offered more nuance in places.
• 
  Greg

  Very convincing case for the dangers for western democracies in allowing the Chinese Communist Party to spread it's influence. The author's arguments are well backed up by evidence. Scary stuff.
• 
  Anish

  Its more like a theses of CCP's link to academicia,investment firms and think tanks.
  
  Its a good read if you are interested with CCP's functioning, but it may be boring at certain points.
• 
  Wesley Gerrard

  As a committed sinophile, this recently written book seemed a necessity. As China continues its rise to being the most dominant national force economically on the planet, it is quite difficult to obtain meaningful and relevant and unbiased factual information about its thoughts and the thoughts of its governing Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Aside from the political Iron Curtain, there is the language barrier. I studied Mandarin Chinese language at the Confucius Institute at Cardiff University for three years so have some basic linguistic and cultural understanding. This book is alike a definitive manual of people involved with the CCP internationally, its many umbrella organisations and its often discrete methods that it uses in order to obtain influence. I can see me often referring back to this book in the future for some of its well-researched detail. I did sometimes find a bias against the CCP and cannot see this book getting published in the mother country. Just the mention of the dreaded 'Three T's alone should suffice: (Tibet, Taiwan, Tianamen). The cast of international politicians linked in some way, often financially to the CCP was totally shocking. I was surprised to read of more Conservative Party involvement with China than indeed the more obvious socialist Labour Party. One thing is for sure, is that the CCP global reach is unilaterally widespread and with its full arsenal of orgs designed specifically to enhance the CCP and its broadening widescoping foreign policy it is certainly good to have this detailed out in print. I am totally blown away by the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) and see it as being the most significant international global event over the next several decades. For me, being a Confucius Institute alumnus, I loved the chapters devoted to education. I believe that it is critically important for as many people as possible to open the doors to China by learning Mandarin Chinese. It is a beautiful language that is destined to replace English as the global lingua franca of business. I have currently raised some issues with my MP Jessica Morden (Labour), MS John Griffiths (Labour) and David Davis (Conservative). Liz Truss has announced that she intends to throw the Confucius Institute system out of the U.K. and replace the mainland Chinese teachers with the overseas Taiwan education program. I think this just demonstrates Miss Truss' clear lack of ability to guide the U.K. sensibly and would be devastating to future generations of our education system as well as crippling our economy on a global scale. I am hoping that the local democratically elected politicians that I have approached can coherently persuade Prime Minister Liz Truss to come to her senses specifically over the Confucius Institute matter. I look forward to researching some of the material I have read and let's hope that I can somehow grasp the intricacies of Ji Xinping thought.
• 
  Chad

  This is in many ways a groundbreaking piece of work. I don't think anyone's ever published anything quite like it. I found it fascinating and read it twice, taking notes the second time, and producing a review that can be found here:
  
  Battling Beijing’s Global Influence Network: A Lost Cause?
  
  My only criticism is that it does not address CCP infiltration of grassroots organizations and movements, only elites. Even at the local level, the book still focuses on elites. But connections between, for example, the Chinese Progressive Association and Chinese Consulate-General in San Francisco deserve a closer look, especially after the violence and election tumult in America in 2020. The book does, after all, cite several Chinese consulates and embassies around the world as the focal points of influence and subversion. There is a connection, for example, between Black Lives Matter and the Chinese Progressive Association, as there is between Black Lives Matter and Liberation Road, a Maoist entity that has become involved in US electoral politics. Perhaps a subsequent edition might cover these issues.
• 
  Micah Grossman

  Pair this with Sarah Chayes’ On Corruption In America for a broad exploration of corruption and fragility in today’s superpowers. Hidden Hand is the scariest book of the year I’ve read.
• 
  Edmund Bloxam

  This book contains tremendously important information that everyone needs to know. I can't fault it's research, e.g. more than a third of its book space is full of references.
  
  Unfortunately, the presentation is distractingly poor. The vast majority of the book comes across as a vast list. Example after example after example. Not enough is made of the overall point of each chapter. Most of the time, you can read the beginning of a chapter and skim the rest. But sometimes an important point is made within the uber-list, so actually, you can't.
  
  Like I said, the book is deceptively short. Given that I get the point and don't need to read EVERY example, it could be even shorter. Not enough is made of the difference between one example and another.
  
  This was tremendously difficult to read; the editor didn't do a good job. Not enough discussion of the point. The book makes the point that the CCP pressures large publishers around the world. Good editors aren't all that expensive. Ultimately, it is a journalist's book, put out to present facts, probably at pace.
  
  I would give this fewer stars if it wasn't such a vitally important book.
• 
  Laura

  This book gives you a LOT of information to digest; and is not at all clearly structured or easy to read at times. However, I still recommend it to absolutely everyone because it’s a stark reminder of how China’s hidden influence is scarily strong in all fields, ranging from International Media to Universities to local governments to global World Organisations. The naïveté of the Western world is unsettling when it comes to the CCP, as well as their willingness to look away or cave in under pressure. As the book is extremely well researched and provides numerous shocking examples, I can say right out in the open that I’m more terrified than ever before.
• 
  CK Yau

  A shocking relevation of how extensive CCP's infiltration networks really are!!