A thrilling and provocative account of the unfolding tension between China and the west using characters and sources and stories from his time there, but between the lines he hopes to illuminate the dark portents of repercussions yet to come.
Bill Birtles is the ABC's China correspondent and has been based in Beijing since 2015, covering some of the biggest stories of recent years, including the rise of Xi Jinping, the US-China trade war, the Hong Kong protests and upheaval in the Australia-China relationship. He's reported from South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and from southern China right up to the North Korean border.
