"The collapse of China is unthinkable. The consequences for its people - and for the people of the world - could be catastrophic. Three times larger than the United States, China has an economy that many predict will blossom into the world biggest by 2010. The country may be America's greatest rival, but each of us, from diplomat to businessman to ordinary consumer, has a vital interest in China's stability." "The People's Republic, however, is failing. The government is corrupt and weak, the economy is stalling, and the social fabric fraying in both countryside and city. As at so many times in the past, the Chinese people want change. Soon they will demand it." "The Coming Collapse of China does not flinch. It states what almost no one will say out loud: The end of the modern Chinese state is near. The People's Republic has five years, perhaps ten, before it falls. This book tells why."--BOOK JACKET.