'China Under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment' is one of the first scholarly books on Xi’s China during the pandemic, containing several features unmatched by existing scholarship. First, all the authors have studied and taught Chinese and American history or politics in China, Taiwan, and the United States for decades. They are quite familiar with and deeply understand the history, politics, ideology, and society in China and the United States. Therefore, their research would be more balanced and nuanced, if not more profound, than that of many Western or China-based students. Second, most authors are historians who examine Xi Jinping’s China and China’s relationship with the West from a motley crew of historical backdrops and political and legal perspectives. Their probe into the historical trajectory, precedents, causes, and problems of Xi’s policies and intentions helps readers obtain a better sense of what Xi and his government could do in the future. Third, most authors are established and internationally renowned scholars in their respective fields. Lastly, this book is one of the first studies spanning from Xi Jinping’s rise to power in the early 2000s to the pandemic era and beyond. The authors have kept a close eye on the latest developments and sources to analyze and compare Xi’s policies as well as his volatile relations with the West before and after the pandemic.

Drawing on hundreds of newly released judicial archives and court cases, this book analyzes the communist judicial system in China from its founding period to the death of Mao Zedong. It argues that the communist judicial system was built when the CCP was engaged in a life-or-death struggle with the GMD, meaning that the overriding aim of the judicial system was, from the outset, to safeguard the Party against both internal and external adversaries. This fundamental insecurity and perennial fear of loss of power obsessed the Party throughout the era of Mao and beyond, prompting it to launch numerous political campaigns, which forced communist judicial cadres to choose between upholding basic legal norms and maintaining Party order. In doing all of this, The Communist Judicial System in China, 1927-1976: Building on Fear fills a major lacuna in our understanding of communist-era China.

Sino-American Relations brings together high-quality research articles in order to examine one aspect of the political mechanism of modern China, from empire to the PRC: political initiatives to root out corruption. Proceeding chronologically, the eleven chapters explore modern political history through a particular focus on the anti-corruption campaigns of early modern and modern China. Our interdisciplinary analysis draws on methodologies from several distinct fields, including political science, civil law, and mass media. Such an analysis reveals the unique characteristics of China’s urbanization, which have transformed not only the country, but also the CCP – from a rural-based totalitarian party to a city-centered authoritarian party, and from a party of the people to a party of powerful interest groups by 2002–2016.