林德宜博士所著《中国崛起：美国与西方的回应》，是对中国崛起及其所引发的美国与西方盟友日益对抗性反应这一当代重大议题，所作出的一项及时而厚重的贡献。本书收录了作者自2020年以来发表于中文报章《东方日报》的58篇评论文章，记录了中国与西方关系急剧恶化的关键时期——从新冠疫情爆发，到新一轮关税战、科技竞争，以及围绕台湾与亚太地区不断升温的地缘政治紧张局势。
这并非一本传统意义上的学术专著，而是一位资深公共知识分子针对全球重大事件即时作出的思想回应汇编。从这个角度来看，本书的价值之一正在于其鲜明的时代现场感。按时间顺序阅读这些文章，读者仿佛在翻阅一部关于近年国际关系最动荡时期的思想日记。它不仅记录了事件本身，也记录了围绕这些事件展开的叙事建构、认知偏差与意识形态角力。
本书的核心关怀十分明确：西方对中国论述的转变。林德宜博士，随著中国在经济、科技及军事领域的崛起，西方政治与媒体叙事逐渐将中国从“伙伴”或“竞争者”重新定义为“体制性威胁”，甚至是“文明敌人”。在一篇篇文章中，他不断挑战这一转变背后的假设，并引导读者思考：这些描述究竟是否公平、准确，抑或带有明显的政治动机？
本书的一大优点在于议题覆盖面广。作者游刃有馀地穿梭于政治、经济、外交、媒体、科技与文化等多个领域。其中有关新冠疫情政治化的论述尤为出色。他梳理了西方国家最初对中国严格防疫措施的肯定，如何在疫情全球扩散及西方内部政治压力上升后，迅速转变为指责与归咎。对于北京冬奥会外交抵制、彭帅事件，以及新疆议题西方报道的分析，也展现出作者如何揭示个别事件被纳入更大反华叙事框架的过程。
有关战略与经济竞争的章节同样值得关注。无论是金砖国家（BRICS）扩员、电动车“战争”、稀土贸易，还是人工智能竞争，作者都将中国崛起置于对西方经济主导地位构成结构性挑战的大背景下加以分析。他反复提出一个重要观点：经济竞争往往披上意识形态的外衣。无论读者是否完全认同这一论断，作者均提供了足够丰富的案例与证据，使人无法轻易忽视其论证。
特别值得肯定的是，作者所展现的东南亚与“全球南方”视角。关于中国崛起的大部分文献，往往来自华盛顿、伦敦或北京；而林德宜则立足于马来西亚与东盟地区——一个经济上与中国深度互联、同时又深受美国战略压力影响的区域。他关于东盟平衡外交以及亚太军事化风险的分析，是全书最具思考深度的部分之一。
作者在相关议题上的发言权毋庸置疑。林德宜的职业生涯横跨学术界、国际发展机构与公民社会。身为前大学教授、世界银行高级社会科学家以及联合国顾问，他在发展经济学、治理与国际政策领域积累了数十年的经验。这种背景充分体现在其广泛的引证范围以及判断问题时展现出的自信与深度。
本书另一项突出特点是其可读性。作者文笔直接、生动，能够将复杂的地缘政治与经济议题转化为一般读者也能理解的内容。这些文章显然不仅是写给专家学者阅读，也面向希望从主流西方媒体叙事之外寻求另一种视角的公众读者。
当然，本书的优点同时也是其局限所在。
作为报章专栏的结集，内容出现一定程度的重复在所难免。一些主题——如西方的双重标准、反华宣传以及意识形态对抗的危险——反复出现。虽然这强化了作者的核心论点，但部分读者可能会认为，某些论述若能进一步整合并进行更系统性的展开，效果会更佳。
另一个局限在于，作者有时倾向于将“西方”视为一个统一整体。然而现实中，美国、欧洲以及其他西方机构之间存在显著差异。同样地，虽然本书在揭示西方批评中国时的夸大与矛盾方面表现出色，但对于中国自身内部矛盾与政策不足等一些合理质疑，则著墨相对较少。
然而，这些不足并不应掩盖本书的重要意义。
在最佳状态下，《中国崛起》发挥了一种重要的“纠偏”作用。它提醒读者，叙事从来都不是中立的，而是受到权力、利益与意识形态共同塑造。它促使我们思考：究竟是谁在定义全球事件？谁的声音主导国际舆论？又有哪些观点被边缘化？从这个意义上说，本书所倡导的思考方式，颇有苏格拉底式追问精神——在接受结论之前，先审视其背后的前提。
这或许正是本书最大的贡献。这不仅仅是在为中国辩护，也不仅仅是在批评西方；更重要的是，它促使读者以批判性思维审视当代国际政治叙事的形成机制。
对于中国研究、国际关系、媒体研究以及东南亚政治领域的学者与学生而言，本书提供了一份珍贵的历史档案，记录了“全球南方”在这一关键历史时刻的观察与思考。对于一般读者而言，它则是一部兼具可读性与启发性的作品，帮助人们理解中国崛起如何被观察、被诠释，以及如何被争议。
林德宜博士完成了一部及时、勇敢且重要的著作。读者是否认同其所有结论，并非最关键的问题。一本真正值得阅读的书，在于它能否深化思考、激发反省。而本书无疑做到了这一点。
陈华彪《中国崛起的叙事之争——评<中国崛起：美国与西方的回应>一书》原文：
Dr Lim Teck Ghee's China Rising: America and the West's Response is a timely and substantial contribution to contemporary debate on China's emergence as a global power and the increasingly adversarial reactions it has provoked from the United States and its Western allies. Comprising 58 essays originally published in the Chinese-language daily Oriental Daily from 2020 onwards, the volume chronicles a period of rapid deterioration in China–West relations, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the new tariff wars, technological rivalry, and rising geopolitical tensions over Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific.
The book is not a conventional academic monograph. It is a compilation of interventions written in real time by a seasoned public intellectual responding to unfolding world events. In this respect, its value lies partly in its immediacy. Read sequentially, the essays form an intellectual diary of one of the most turbulent periods in recent international relations. They document not only events themselves but also the narratives, distortions, and ideological contestations surrounding them.
The central concern of the book is clear: the transformation of Western discourse on China. Lim argues that as China has risen economically, technologically, and militarily, it has increasingly been reframed in Western political and media narratives from "partner" or "competitor" into "systemic threat" or even "civilisational enemy." In essay after essay, he challenges the assumptions underlying this transformation and asks readers to interrogate whether such portrayals are fair, accurate, or politically motivated.
Among the book's strengths is the breadth of topics covered. Lim moves across politics, economics, diplomacy, media, technology, and culture with ease. Essays on the politicisation of Covid-19 are particularly effective. He traces how initial Western praise for China's stringent pandemic control measures shifted rapidly into blame and accusation once the virus spread globally and domestic political pressures mounted in Western capitals. His analysis of the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Peng Shuai controversy, and Western reporting on Xinjiang similarly demonstrates how isolated incidents can become embedded within a larger anti-China narrative.
The chapters dealing with strategic and economic rivalry are also notable. Essays on BRICS expansion, the electric vehicle "war," rare earth trade, and artificial intelligence situate China's rise within a broader structural challenge to Western economic dominance. Lim's argument that economic competition is often clothed in ideological language is one that recurs throughout the volume. Whether one fully agrees or not, he presents enough evidence and examples to compel engagement.
Particularly valuable is Lim's Southeast Asian and Global South perspective. Much of the literature on China's rise is written from Washington, London, or Beijing. Lim writes from Malaysia and ASEAN—a region whose economies are deeply linked to China, yet whose security environments are increasingly shaped by American strategic pressure. His essays on ASEAN's balancing act and on the dangers of militarisation in the Asia-Pacific are among the most thoughtful in the book.
The author's authority to write on such issues is considerable. Lim Teck Ghee's distinguished career spans academia, international development institutions, and civil society. As a former professor, World Bank senior social scientist, and UN adviser, he brings decades of experience in development economics, governance, and international policy. This background is evident in the range of his references and the confidence of his judgments.
Another notable quality of the book is its accessibility. Lim writes in a direct and often vivid style, making complex geopolitical and economic issues understandable to general readers. The essays are clearly aimed not only at specialists but also at informed members of the public who seek an alternative perspective to dominant Western media narratives.
That said, the book's strengths are also the source of some of its limitations.
As a compilation of weekly newspaper columns, repetition is inevitable. Certain themes recur frequently: Western hypocrisy, anti-China propaganda, and the dangers of ideological confrontation. While these reinforce the book's central thesis, some readers may feel that certain arguments could have been consolidated or developed more systematically.
A further limitation lies in the book's occasional tendency toward overgeneralisation. "The West" is sometimes treated as a coherent and unified actor, when in reality significant differences exist between the United States, Europe, and other Western institutions. Likewise, while the book is effective in exposing exaggerations and inconsistencies in Western critiques of China, it engages less fully with some legitimate concerns regarding China's own internal contradictions and policy shortcomings.
Yet these limitations should not obscure the importance of the work.
At its best, China Rising performs a valuable corrective function. It reminds readers that narratives are shaped by power, interests, and ideology. It asks us to question who frames global events, whose voices dominate international discourse, and whose perspectives are marginalised. In this sense, the book invites a mode of inquiry not unlike the Socratic method: to interrogate assumptions before accepting conclusions.
This, perhaps, is the book's greatest contribution. It does not merely defend China; nor does it simply attack the West. Rather, it challenges readers to think critically about the narratives that structure contemporary geopolitics.
For scholars and students of China studies, international relations, media studies, and Southeast Asian politics, this volume offers a useful archive of commentary from the Global South during a critical historical moment. For general readers, it provides an accessible and provocative entry point into understanding how China's rise is perceived—and contested—in our time.
Dr Lim Teck Ghee has produced a book that is timely, courageous, and important. Whether readers agree with all his conclusions is beside the point. A worthwhile book is one that sharpens inquiry and provokes reflection. This volume does both.
（Tan Wah Piow is a London-based retired human rights lawyer, writer and public intellectual. A prominent Singaporean political exile since 1976, he has written extensively on democracy, justice and civic dialogue. He is the author of A Dialogue Across Civilisations: The Polis and the People.）
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