Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: The Truth About China

Reviewed in Australia on 24 May 2021

It was hard to believe this was non-fiction, it was so gripping.
It whs a well put together recent history of China and what motivates it. Although I was aware of much of the history, there were still plenty of additional pieces of the puzzle that I wasn't aware of. It showed the progression of China's attitudes to the outside world starting at the end of Mao, opening up under Deng and then the paranoia of Xi. It is sad because China was becoming a valuable part of the world, but all of that has changed.
The book wasn't all negative about China and was certainly open about the Wests' and Australia's missteps with regard to China. It gave a good insight into how many Chinese people think; there is an awareness of China's political failings, but also of the positives for their country.
All in all, a really good read. Thank ou to Bill Birtles for this enjoyabls book.

4 people found this helpful

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Thomas Lennox

Gritty truth

Reviewed in Australia on 3 May 2021

Verified Purchase

A cracking read! The feel of an action novel at first, Mr Birtles provides an on the ground commentary of recent pivotal Chinese history: the early century feel of a possible Chinese century, the slow change in sentiment under President Xi, the trade wars, the increasing repression, the enslavement of Hong Kong, the impact of covid and the depressing increasing insular aggressive nationalism of today. Mr Birtles has the eye of the journalist writing a first draft of history.

2 people found this helpful

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Kevin casey

Riveting

Reviewed in Australia on 11 August 2021

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I’m not a great fan of the ABC, too biased, so I found this book well written by someone who had lived and experienced China from the inside. Great insight and riveting read

One person found this helpful

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James McAndrew

Really great read

Reviewed in Australia on 7 August 2021

Verified Purchase

Really insightful look into China.

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Andrew Desmond

China Viewed by an Insider

Reviewed in Australia on 5 July 2021

Bill Birtles holds a unique position in modern Australia-China relations. He has the dubious honour of being the last of two foreign journalists based in Beijing before being expelled from the country by the Chinese Government. His crime? Arguably becoming collateral damage in a high level row between the governments of Australia and China.

“The Truth About China” is an account of Birtles’ time as the ABC’s Beijing correspondent. It begins and ends with the details of his expulsion from the country. In between, he takes the reader on a tour of the Middle Kingdom. The reader is introduced to life in both China and Beijing. However, he increasingly and inevitably focusses on political matters. The unrest in Hong Kong and the rapidly deteriorating relations between Australia and China are the catalyst. Birtles was right in the thick of the action. The narrative is breezy and compelling.

In my mind, the most interesting part if the book was his first hand accounts of the growing coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, Birtles was probably the last journalist out of Wuhan before the city was tightly locked down for 76 days. He beat the deadline by a mere thirty minutes. He also makes the interesting point that although the virus may have started its trail of destruction in China, it was China that first managed to get on top of the virus. He cleverly declares that “China’s government had turned a ‘Chernobyl moment’ into something more akin to a Sputnik moment.”

As an introduction to modern Chinese history and the souring relationship between Australia and China, “The Truth About China” is a recommended read.

2 people found this helpful

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Interesting Reading.

Reviewed in Australia on 18 July 2022

"The Truth about China" is an account of ABC correspondent Bill Birtles years in China and his hasty exit. It is well written and of interest.

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Saint Quentin

An inside-China story.

Reviewed in Australia on 11 May 2021

Verified Purchase

Bill Birtles relives his life in China over his many years as an ABC correspondent. Well written and easy to read, not a lot of new revelations that we didn’t already know from reading and watching the news in Australia. A personal touch to his writing which makes it a very worthwhile read. Well done, BB.

2 people found this helpful

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Dennis Rutzou

Worth reading

Reviewed in Australia on 11 June 2021

Verified Purchase

This is a very interesting book and worth reading as I guess I am a bit of Bill Birtles fan as I have enjoyed listening to his ABC news reports from China for some years although I didn't realise how difficult it was to report from that country. In my professional life as a PR consultant working with Chinese clients I often found how little the Chinese understand our commercial life as even much of our spoken English is a puzzle to them. But liaising with the Department of State Security and trying understand the Chinese legal system, like Bill Birtles did, is a very different brand of incomprehensibility. I enjoyed this book and hope it adds to increased understanding and leads to improved understanding on both sides.

2 people found this helpful

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