A popular new collection of short stories calling for China to rise up and assert itself in the world has been a hot topic of debate among Chinese recently.
The collaborative effort of five Chinese authors, “Unhappy China” was released on March 13 and has already moved to the best-sellers list on the popular website Dangdang.com; quickly selling out its initial 270,000 copies.
“From looking at the history of human civilization, we are most qualified to lead this world; Westerners should be second,” writes one author in the book.
The book is extremely nationalistic – criticizing and blaming the U.S. and other Western countries for their denigration of China and their role in the current economic downturn.
“This economic problem has shown the Chinese people that America does have problems, that what we’ve been saying is right,” said Wang Xiaodong, one of the authors, in an interview on Friday.
The book also is extremely critical of China’s current governmental leaders who the authors feel have taken a soft and timorous stance when dealing with Western nations.
“I’ve already lost all hope in China’s elite,” says Mr. Wang. “America will face a less friendly China in the future.”
Despite the high volume of sales, the book has been met with a large degree of criticism from academics and bloggers in China who feel that the publication is an attempt to cash in on the nationalistic sentiment currently felt in the country.
Others claim that the book is an embarrassment and write it off simply as unconstructive.