The Truth About China
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The Truth About China
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Narrated by:
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Bill Birtles
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By:
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Bill Birtles
About this listen
A thrilling and provocative account of unfolding tensions between China and the West, filled with the people, stories and sticky situations from Bill Birtles' five years as an ABC correspondent.
'People abroad always thought things were much scarier in China than they really were. What threw me, though, was the urgency of the diplomats in Beijing. They live it; they get it. And they wanted me out.'
Bill Birtles was rushed out of China in September 2020, forced to seek refuge in the Australian Embassy in Beijing while diplomats delicately negotiated his departure in an unprecedented standoff with China's government. Five days later, he was on a flight back to Sydney, leaving China without any Australian foreign correspondents on the ground for the first time in decades.
A journalist's perspective on this rising global power has never been more important, as Australia's relationship with China undergoes an extraordinary change that's seen the detention of journalist Cheng Lei, Canberra's criticism of Beijing's efforts to crush Hong Kong's freedoms, as well as China's military activity in the South China Sea and its human rights violations targeting the mostly Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang province. Chronicling his five-year stint in China as he criss-crossed the country, Birtles reveals why the historic unravelling of China's relations with the West is perceived very differently inside the country.
The Truth About China is a compelling and candid examination of China, one that takes a magnifying glass to recent events and looks through a telescope at what is yet to come.
©2021 Bill Birtles (P)2021 W F HowesCritic Reviews
"A compelling, clear-eyed yet colourful take of a changing china...riveting." (Fran Kelly)
What listeners say about The Truth About China
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 25-09-2021
interesting expose
this was an incredibly interesting expose into Chinese political culture from someone with wonderful curiosity. It was obvious that he had great respect and love for the Chinese people.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Captain Hammer
- 20-12-2021
Shades of grey
A must for any China watcher, it is insightful in its description of motives on both sides using Bill’s real experiences..
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Will B
- 03-01-2022
Really engaging memior about living in China
Very aussie memoir. Insightful, engaging, and mentions beer about 1000 times. Bill captures the dynacism of living in modern China as an Australian. Gan bei!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 27-05-2022
Good Background
Good background to a very complex story but Australia should continue to manage this relationship for equal benefit.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Aaron R Pollard
- 07-10-2022
A masterful storyteller
I've followed Bills career on the ABC for years (especially after a Foreign Correspondent episode which chronicled the end of Stephen McDonnell's time in China and the start of Bills) so when I saw this book I knew it would be good. Little did I know how good it would be.
Bill is a masterful storyteller and the narration of his own work makes this book come to life in a way that I don't think reading the book itself would have. I was hooked from the very start. It was so good that as soon as it finished I started it again.
Cannot recommend this highly enough.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-08-2021
Great book!
I have been to Shanghai for work, albeit for a short time, so I could relate to this book and found it very impartial honest representation of China.
Great job Bill, keep up the good work and thank you! I really enjoyed it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 31-01-2024
As an expat this was interesting
I was living in Beijing and Shanghai during these years and so found this book very informative. A lot I didn’t know was going on. You don’t hear it when you live there.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- LJ Ferrara
- 29-11-2021
Fascinating!
I had been desperately wanting to read this book since the minute it came out, but life, lockdown, and finding our new life as a returned Aussie Expat from Hong Kong got in the way. Thank god for Audible!!
Firstly, I am a Bill Birtles Fan. I’ll say it straight up. He was a constant visitor to our family via the Australian Channel Network on the Hong Kong TV stations. So I feel like Bill was there every step of our time there.. a great eight years. I also think Bill is a good role model for a teen like my son - loves reading, loves history, learning Mandarin and a third culture kid. He has the book on his bedside table ready for school holidays already.
Bill’s story is so interesting. He is the kind of guy you want to invite over for a family dinner and hear all the stories he couldn’t include in the book. I’m sure there are many!
Bill was the last Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) left in China and sadly right now, 2021, there are no more reporting on the real China.
I laughed at his descriptions of many places in China and HK I visited regularly (yes the Wan Chai bars) and genuinely think he is a lucky guy to be here telling his story now.
When he realised he could have gotten a DFAT flight out of locked down Wuhan, so he would have stayed rather than escaping with hours to spare, I genuinely felt sorry for his mum and wife that they had such a adventure loving guy in their midst.
Well done Bill. Now let’s hear more!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 18-08-2021
A wonderful and insightful read
This was a great read written by one of Australia's most respected foreign journalist.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Slimpublishing
- 19-08-2021
fantastic
great account of personal and actual facts.
the political future will be very complicated considering countries dependence on each other.
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1 person found this helpful