During the recent trip to the Olympics in China, I decided to read The China Diary of George H. W. Bush: The Making of a Global President; Edited and introduced by Jeffrey A. Engel. I really enjoyed it. I generally enjoy biographies and diaries anyway. And I love diplomatic histories, political books, etc. so this was a winner. I picked it up at Barnes & Noble in Torrance at the end of July.
Overall, I enjoyed the book's stories of Bush's interactions with Chinese political leadership, Chinese community leaders, American diplomatic leaders, e.g. Henry Kissinger, and other diplomats in Beijing. It gets a little boring at times. Sometimes, Bush goes on about random, insignificant things when I just want to hear about the juicy diplomatic details.
So, I guess I really liked reading about first-hand accounts of Sino-American relations in the beginning stages of their development. At the time, Bush was not an ambassador, but was running the U.S. Liaison's Office. At the time, America had formal diplomatic relations with Taipei... NOT with Beijing. This made it hard for Bush at times, and his frustration comes through in his diary.
This month I drove past the new American embassy in Beijing - it's massive: nearly 800,000 sq. ft. U.S.-China relations have come a long way since the early 1970s.
If you're interested in American foreign policy in Asia, Bush, or diplomacy in general, it's a good book to consider reading.
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