Chang, Gordon G.

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Chang, Gordon G.

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Random House, 1745 Broadway, 18th Fl., New York, NY 10019.

CAREER:

Attorney, writer, and speaker. Baker & McKenzie (law firm),Hong Kong, China, law partner; Paul Weiss (law firm), Shanghai, China, counsel. Has spoken before groups at numerous universities and corporations, including Columbia University, Cornell University, Yale University, Princeton University, RAND Corporation, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Heritage Foundation; has given briefings at the National Intelligence Council, Central Intelligence Agency,United States State Department, and the Pentagon; delivered report on the future of China's economy to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review. Cornell University, trustee.

WRITINGS:

The Coming Collapse of China, Random House (New York, NY), 2001.

Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World, Random House (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Far Eastern Economic Review, International Herald Tribune, Weekly Standard, and the South China Morning Post.

SIDELIGHTS:

Gordon G. Chang is trained as an attorney and worked in that field for a number of years. However, Chang is better known as a specialist on Asian affairs. He is well respected as an expert on the Chinese economy and was called upon to deliver a report—a discussion of the country's financial future—to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review. In 2001 Chang explored this topic in his first book,The Coming Collapse of China. The tome examines the future of China's economy, which much of the world sees as growing significantly in the coming years. Chang, however, disagrees with this view. In The Coming Collapse of China, he puts forth the idea that China's seeming strength since the death of leader Mao Zedong is all a facade that will crumble with the passage of time due to such factors as waning numbers of foreign investors, corruption within the Communist Party, and the failure of many government enterprises. The book provides a thorough overview of current events in China and explains how these events will affect the nation's financial picture over time.

The Coming Collapse of China received mixed reviews from critics. Jonathan Mirsky, reviewing the volume in aSpectator article, observed the book's "colourful stories" and called it an "easier read" than other books on the topic, though the critic bemoaned what he saw as a lack of proof. A Business Week critic was also of two minds, pointing to Chang's prediction as "dubious" despite finding the book to be a "worthwhile read." New York Times Book Review contributor Patrick E. Tyler, however, found Chang's argument "provocative."

In 2006 Chang turned his attention to another Asian nation when writing the book Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World. Over the course of several years in the early twenty-first century, Kim Jong Il, self-proclaimed "Great Leader" of the Communist country North Korea, achieved his long-time goal of compiling a mass of nuclear weaponry and the missiles needed to send the warheads to far-reaching areas of the world. Additionally, the ruler has threatened to sell this weaponry to virtually anyone willing to pay the prices he sets. In Nuclear Showdown, Chang thoroughly examines the crisis from several different angles and attempts to provide a viable solution. New York Times Book Review contributor Joseph Kahn pointed out that while Chang covers the topic "energetically and provocatively," his arguments, despite being "persuasive," are "rarely relevatory." A Publishers Weekly reviewer was also mixed in his assessment, saying that the author "goes way too far" with some of his suggestions, while noting that the basis of Chang's idea is "on target."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2001, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Coming Collapse of China, p. 1829.

Business Week, August 27, 2001, review of The Coming Collapse of China, p. 26.

Contemporary Review, June, 2002, review of The Coming Collapse of China, p. 380.

Library Journal, February 1, 2006, Charles W. Hay-ford, review of Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World, p. 94.

New York Times Book Review, September 9, 2001, Patrick E. Tyler, review of The Coming Collapse of China, p. 22; May 7, 2006, Joseph Kahn, "Where the W.M.D.'s Are," review of Nuclear Showdown, p. 23.

Orbis, spring, 2002, Arthur Waldron, review of The Coming Collapse of China, p. 391.

Publishers Weekly, November 28, 2005, review of Nuclear Showdown, p. 40.

Spectator, February 9, 2002, Jonathan Mirsky, review of The Coming Collapse of China, p. 39.

Time International, September 3, 2001, Anthony Paul, review of The Coming Collapse of China, p. 63.

Washington Monthly, July, 2001, Jacob Heilbrunn, review of The Coming Collapse of China, p. 50.