WHEN THE PARTY ENDS
Winner – Singapore Literature Prize 2016 (Non- Fiction)
When the Party Ends– China’s leaps and stumbles after the Beijing Olympics
It was an instant local bestseller with a global impact. When The Party Ends seized attention in Singapore and beyond soon after it was launched in 2013, being cited and reviewed in the New York Times, the BBC, the South China Morning Post, the Diplomat and many more. But don’t hear it from us. Take it from the best in the business of China studies.
Reviews & Praises
"When the Party Ends is a colourful and insightful look at a key pivot in Chinese history: the end of the 35-year boom period that began in the late 1970s, and the start of a new, trickier phase in China’s evolution. For five years, Peh Shing Huei covered this period, when a new narrative began to unfold. Beginning with what may be seen as the high point of the reform period – the 2008 Olympics, when China showcased its new power and wealth – Peh takes us through China’s seeming eclipse of the West during the financial crisis and into the new era of Xi Jinping. A veteran correspondent with an affinity for both elite and street-level politics, Peh is a sure-footed guide through this more complicated period, weaving on-the-ground colour with shrewd analysis."
Mr Ian Johnson, Pulitzer-prize winning correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times
“Peh Shing Huei’s When the Party Ends: China’s Leaps and Stumbles After the Olympics…should appeal to readers fascinated by elite politics and its author, who did good reporting from Beijing for the Singapore Straits Times before moving back to Southeast Asia, knows when and how to enliven top-down views of China with human interest stories and engaging personal touches.”
Professor Jeffrey Wasserstrom in the LA Review of Books
“Countless books have been written on China’s rise, yet this one by Peh Shing Huei captures precisely the incongruity so commonly observed in China. His use of the term ‘steroid superpower’ aptly explains why the country still has a long way to go before reaching genuine greatness.”
Mr Ching Cheong, former senior writer for The Straits Times and author of My 1000 Days Ordeal: A Patriot’s Torture
The book has "colorful, fast-paced analysis" of steroid superpower China, and the the author “raises important questions about the sustainability of what he dubs “market Leninism” and the Communist Party’s capacity to take China to the next stage.”
Professor Jeff Kingston of Temple University in Tokyo in The Japan Times
"When the Party Ends connects the dots, brilliantly encapsulates the momentous year that marked China’s arrival on the world stage and contextualises the future challenges and threats facing the world’s second-biggest economy. It is a must-read to understand where China came from, where it is today and where it will head to."
Mr Benjamin Kang Lim, former Reuters Beijing and Taipei bureau chief
“Peh Shing Huei draws on his experiences as China bureau chief of Singapoore’s Straits Times to produce this lucid analysis of the stability- obsessed government that rules the most populous, and perhaps soon the richest, nation on earth. This volume is not only insightful but genuinely interesting to read.”
Professor June Teufel Dreyer of the University of Miami and author of China’s Political System
“The quality of his journalism cannot be challenged. He nails down each and every misstep, scandal and palace intrigue with solid reporting.”
Professor Tom Plate, veteran columnist focused on Asia and America, in the South China Morning Post