Chang's "Plan Red" is written as an urgent wake-up call to China's plan to infiltrate, destabilise, kill and destroy America. From arguing that COVID was manufactured by the CCP to kill Americans, to advancing the idea that the "Chinese dream" is to topple the USA as hegemon and replace with worldwide Chinese rule, Chang calls US policymakers to take action against a hostile communist China.

From the onset, I had so many issues with the book. It writes extensively on a hostile, unprovoked China threat against a "good" and moral USA which has done nothing wrong ever. There is no mention of US military exploits across the world, its imperialism, its history of backing of insurgents and propping puppet governments, the ills of the Westphalian system or the liberal economic system. This is one of the main flaws of the book, which scholars of US-China relations would need addressed. It reads very much like propaganda for the dominant US-based narrative of a rising China as a threat to the US hegemon, meant to scare the American people - from the exaggerated tone of "China's war plans" to a China "preparing for war", to the zionism to correlating the "Chinese dream" with world domination.

Additionally, most key claims of the book, especially those regarding Xi's aspirations and sentiments either a) lack references or b) are referenced not from Xi's speeches or at least CCP posts/documents but from another Western written secondary source. Additionally, most claims about China's goals are from emails between the author and some scholar, emails that we do not get transcripts of in the notes of the book. This for me weakens greatly the credibility of most of Chang's arguments and claims. From terms like "this suggests that" to scholar A "told me", it is difficult to take seriously and attach much scholarly weight on Chang's Plan Red. Besides the multiple flaws and fallacies in the flow and logic of Chang's arguments, most of said claims are widely held conspiracies known to the public and he offers nothing new or different on the "the China threat" or US-China relations. He also purports a solution to the China threat, so radical and unfeasible in the liberal economic system he glorifies.

It is thus difficult for me to recommend this book to any International Relations scholars, especially those within the US-China field as this offers nothing new or crucial. I would recommend it least to non-academics of the field as this only pushes a scare-tactic, tired and uncritical understanding of the complexities of China's internal environment or external security concerns. It is for an audience that is already within the narrative of China as threat and works simply to flame those ideas and not for those wanting a more critical and substantial understanding of China's interests.

"Plan Red" by Gordan Chang is a must read. My lone hesitancy in recommending this book is that Mr. Chang about 20 years wrote another book about China. I do not recall its exact title, but it was about the coming fall of China which has not happened. In spite of this earlier misstep, you should purchase this book and read it since Mr. Chang is one of America's leading authorities on Red China and the CCP which controls every aspect of the daily lives of 1.4 billion people.

"Plan Red" by Gordon G. Chang presents itself as a critical alarm regarding China's alleged plans to destabilize and ultimately destroy the United States. However, after reading the book, I found it to be a mix of widely known public information and a few new details, which left me feeling underwhelmed by the overall depth and scope.

While the book is certainly informational, it falls short of providing a comprehensive understanding of the complexities at play. The content is presented in a way that feels broad and brief, lacking the significant detail needed to connect the dots in a meaningful way. As a result, it doesn't quite succeed in painting a full picture of the proposed threat.

The tone of the book is where I found the most difficulty. It often comes across as fear-mongering, which may work for readers with limited knowledge of US-China geopolitical relations, but I believe it will fall short for those who approach the topic with a more critical eye. At times, the content feels over-exaggerated, seemingly designed to stir fear in Americans rather than present a balanced analysis. Moreover, there are much scarier plots concerning China that are left unmentioned, making the book feel selective in its coverage.

Given these observations, I hesitate to recommend "Plan Red" to most readers. For those genuinely interested in understanding the intricate dynamics between the US and China, I would suggest turning to credible news sources that offer multiple perspectives on current events. While much of this book may be factually accurate, its interpretations feel overcooked, and the selectivity of the content ultimately detracts from its credibility.

In conclusion, "Plan Red" might appeal to those looking for a dramatic take on China's global ambitions, but for a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding, one would be better served elsewhere.

Thanks to NetGalley and Humanix Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anyone who thinks America is in decline should read this book and find out who will be there to take up the new world. This book is positively scary. Well researched and well written.

Interesting hypothesis on China’s overarching aim to be World #1. Xi Jinping’s obsession on destroying America and all it stands for, everyone else is just collateral damage.

It is not news that Jinping/China has been focused on America in a rather unhealthy way and in this book the author explains why Jinping feels the need to take it out. Jinping is not about making the world a better place either so should he ever succeed, we’re all in for it.

China, under Jinping, is almost a fully totalitarian state. The author also states that Jinping deliberately spread Covid-19 which is very alarming as most of us assumed it was a lab experiment gone wrong and they tried to cover it up. Allegedly the Chinese military is also working on developing further biological warfare aimed at specific ethnic groups, illegal labs have been discovered etc.

This book is so alarmist that I don’t know what to make of it.
It also makes you wonder if you’re reading a thriller because it seems quite accusatory and far fetched.

I would be inclined to take some of these allegations with a pinch of salt because there is just something that feels a bit ‘off’ about it and surely China wouldn’t just stand by and let a Chinese citizen belch such inflammatory accusations.

Bravo. Great read. He was very personable and detailed in proving his hypothesis. The way the details are laid out helps me understand his perspective. Wonderfully done. Much of the book was from a personal first-person point of view. That was apparent. The index title may have had a conversation error from the source to the book download. Thank you very much for the opportunity to be exposed to this book. I cannot wait for the follow-up work on this topic. If possible, please forward my email to the author. wpslater@yahoo.com. I would like to know about other books and topics he has written about. Thank you very much for a wonderful experience.