The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression

• Nonfiction. By James Mann. Viking, $19.95. Grade: A

Book in a nutshell: A member of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations and a former journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Mann has made a career out of analyzing American foreign policy, focusing on East Asian concerns. Living in China's capital, Beijing, during the tumultuous '80s gave the author first-hand insight into Sino-American politics, and he's watched that relationship evolve over the last generation.

Here, the author posits that America's policy makers have been soft-pedaling our association with China since President Richard Nixon made an historic visit to the Communist dictatorship back in the early '70s. The reasons, Mann asserts, have become purely economic as China has transformed itself into one of the most important commercial engines in the world.

But Mann points out that China is still run by a one-party system that suppresses dissent and ignores the rule of law. The state censors China's estimated 130 million Internet users with help from American companies like Microsoft and Google. And China has been accused of selling the organs of executed prisoners to Western buyers unwilling to wait for suitable replacements in American or European markets.

American policy makers see two possible options for China's future, he says: a "Soothing Scenario" where economic liberalization gradually transforms the communist state in a democracy; or the "Upheaval Scenario," where a massive shakedown brings on the same result. But Mann sees a "Third Scenario," where capitalism continues unimpeded while the state remains totalitarian.

Best tidbit: Mann notes that scholars and writers working for American think tanks dealing with Chinese issues often receive financial kickbacks from corporations with business arrangements in China, obliging them to soft-pedal the true nature of the one-party dictatorship that runs the world's most populous and productive nation.

Pros: The book cuts through the b.s. and lays out the truth: Our global competitor is a dictatorship that tortures, jails and murders its own citizens.

Cons: Mann's book will make readers think twice about buying Chinese-manufactured products. Unfortunately, since such products have flooded America, there's not many options left to the average consumer.

Final word: The book is wonderfully concise and will appeal to anyone concerned about China's future position in a globalized economy, especially considering its economy may one day outrank our own.