At times the fears–boosted by Beijing’s Orwellian predilections–can shade into outright conspiracy theories. In a book called “When China Gets Connected with Silicon Valley,” Japanese author Homare Endo claims to expose “China’s national strategy to connect young [Chinese] brains all over the world to the motherland” by sending them abroad to learn the technological secrets of the West. Another Japanese book, “Japan and China: Illusion of Friendship,” claims that much of the $45 billion in official development aid that Tokyo has provided the mainland during the past 20 years has gone toward road, rail and telecommunications projects for the People’s Liberation Army.
Not all the books are antagonistic, however. Several of those published in Hong Kong and Taiwan aim to teach entrepreneurs to do business on the mainland with lessons in buying real estate, following labor laws, seeking medical attention and avoiding crime. Not only mainlanders are waking up to the potential of the People’s Republic.
