University of California Press Blog

Review: China's Communist Party

On Sunday, June 29, 2008, The Washington Post posted an article by William J. Dobson called Lessons Learned. The subject of the article talks about how the leaders of China's Communist Party can learn from the mistakes of the former Soviet Union. Dobson based his opinion on David Shambaugh's ideas from his book entitled, China's Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation (UC Press, April 2008). Below is an excerpt from the article.

"Many people look hungrily for any clues that the regime may be teetering. Shambaugh's analysis will disappoint them. Although he is not blind to the serious -- and growing -- challenges to Beijing's rule, neither, in his telling, is Beijing. Such open-minded vigilance may be the Chinese leaders' best insurance against following in the footsteps of the communists who went before them."

(Reviewed by William J. Dobson, managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine.)

Kwang-Ching Liu, UC Davis Professor and Friend of the Press, Dies

Kwang-Ching Liu, a true friend of UC Press, died of a heart attack on September 28, at the age of 84.

Liu held multiple roles at the press: He contributed a landmark essay to the highly regarded volume Education and Society in Late Imperial China, 1600-1900, as well as serving on the editorial committee.

Liu’s influence reaches far beyond the press, however. During his thirty-year career in the history department at University of California, Davis, Liu’s patience and deep love for scholarship was passed on to dozens of graduate advisees, and doubtless hundreds more undergraduate and graduate students who passed through his courses. Indeed, Liu helped make the study of Chinese history at Davis possible: throughout his tenure, he helped to develop the faculty and department of East Asian Studies at Davis into the powerhouse it is today.

Typing his name into an Amazon.com search brings up a what’s-what of scholarship on Chinese history. Most notably, he was a contributor to the often-lauded Cambridge History of China. And he lent his guidance, too, as the associate editor of the Journal of Asian Studies.

Born in Beijing in 1921, Liu retained strong links to China and Taiwan. One of his most notable accomplishments was securing money to reproduce the historical archives of the National Museum of Taiwan, a project that has opened up previously unavailable primary sources to students worldwide.

Kwang-Ching Liu will be missed; his influence will live on.