On a snowy day in January 1998 Xu Zengping, a Chinese businessman based out of Hong Kong, stood on the deck of the Varyag, a partially constructed aircraft carrier that was being built by the Soviet Union at a shipyard on the Black Sea. Six years later, Xu had apparently bought it for US$ 20 million. It was reported that his firm had no licence, no real address and assets of only US$ 125,000, so it is unclear how it could afford to buy the ship. The report concluded that the Varyag had been bought by the PLA Navy for copying its technology.

After the end of the Cold War, China was faced with fundamental challenges - and had to make some critical choices. After Tiananmen: The Rise of China is the story of how it handled its complex domestic and external environment while silently ascending the hierarchy of world power.

The book traces the developments in contemporary China from 1989 to 2010, delving into the country's initial political and economic experiments. It examines the adeptness with which challenges like the 'Malacca Dilemma' and the resources crunch shaped Chinese policies; how, in the process, the very character of the Chinese Communist Party was fundamentally transformed; and the twists and turns in India's relationship with China.

The sequel to Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest, this is an essential primer for those who wish to understand China's behaviour today.