If China Attacks
A Scenario
A trenchant and chilling assessment of the global repercussions of a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan—militarily, politically and economically.
As recommended by Alastair Campbell on ‘The Rest is Politics’ podcast
Description
It is 2028. A Chinese fighter jet crashes in Taiwanese airspace after a risky manoeuvre. Beijing accuses Taipei of shooting down the plane and launches a full-scale military attack on the island nation. By the time Washington responds, the balance of power in Asia has shifted dramatically: China has already annexed Taiwan, backed by Russia, Iran and North Korea. The geopolitical and economic consequences are devastating. The US and China vie for global dominance, a third world war looms and Western economies plunge into freefall.
A bestseller in Germany, If China Attacks combines scenario-planning techniques with counterfactual history to simulate the consequences of war in the Indo-Pacific. Through vivid vignettes and sharply observed characters—a vacillating American president, an indecisive Japanese prime minister, diplomats, industrialists and criminals—it illuminates the defining security challenge of our age, a conflict for which the West is not yet prepared.
Andreas Fulda concludes by assessing Taiwan’s vulnerability given Beijing’s repeated military exercises around the island, which The Economist refers to as ‘the most dangerous place on Earth’. He argues that there is still time to deter China from invading, but that action, including overt military support for Taiwan, is called for now.
Reviews
‘One of the country’s most prominent and outspoken China scholars … may turn out to be more of a near-future prophecy than a flight of fancy.’ — Oliver Moody, The Times
‘A jarring book … This book should be read in Europe’s capitals, in Berlin, in Brussels. Not because it has to happen this way, but because it must not happen this way.’ — Süddeutsche Zeitung
Author(s)
Andreas Fulda is a political scientist and expert on relations between China and the European Union. Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Nottingham, he writes regularly for Foreign Policy, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and others. He is the author of Germany and China: How Entanglement Undermines Freedom, Prosperity and Security (Bloomsbury, 2024) and The Struggle for Democracy in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong (Routledge, 2020).
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "If China Attacks" about?
It is 2028. A Chinese fighter jet crashes in Taiwanese airspace after a risky manoeuvre. Beijing accuses Taipei of shooting down the plane and launches a full-scale military attack on the island nation. By the time Washington responds, the balance of power in Asia has shifted dramatically: China has already annexed Taiwan, backed by Russia, Iran and North Korea. The geopolitical and economic consequences are devastating. The US and China vie for global dominance, a third world war looms and Western economies plunge into freefall.
A bestseller in Germany, If China Attacks combines scenario-planning techniques with counterfactual history to simulate the consequences of war in the Indo-Pacific. Through vivid vignettes and sharply observed characters—a vacillating American president, an indecisive Japanese prime minister, diplomats, industrialists and criminals—it illuminates the defining security challenge of our age, a conflict for which the West is not yet prepared.
Andreas Fulda concludes by assessing Taiwan’s vulnerability given Beijing’s repeated military exercises around the island, which The Economist refers to as ‘the most dangerous place on Earth’. He argues that there is still time to deter China from invading, but that action, including overt military support for Taiwan, is called for now.
Who wrote "If China Attacks"?
"If China Attacks" was written by Andreas Fulda.
Andreas Fulda is a political scientist and expert on relations between China and the European Union. Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Nottingham, he writes regularly for Foreign Policy, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and others. He is the author of Germany and China: How Entanglement Undermines Freedom, Prosperity and Security (Bloomsbury, 2024) and The Struggle for Democracy in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong (Routledge, 2020).
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