Contrary to what you may think, the authors are not sloganeering charlatans. They are extremely erudite and lucid. They predicted in the 1996 book that "in less than 10 years, or 15 years at most, the US economy will run into a huge problem" because, as the shared author Song Qiang contends, production and consumption in the US have been knocked askew by massive off-shoring of the manufacturing sector.

The authors are calling for a "conditional split with the West". They see the West as harboring a plan to "drag down" China, ample reason for this country to be shaken out of its post-Olympic contentment and stupor. China should aspire to be "an ambitious and heroic country" ... "conduct business with a sword in hand" ... "the path to victory for a rising power". They plead that the military should "go with the core interests of the country", that diplomats should wind down Sino-French relations and guard against the "roulette" diplomacy of the West. Most of all, China should "dare to wipe out evil and appease the good in the international community" and "clear the way of our growth of decadent winds".

Furthermore, anyone in China who does not share their radical beliefs is labeled a traitor and people like Wang Xiaobo, who advocated a more open and democratic society, are called "defeatists" and "demagogues of today's ugliest culture". They did not use the term "petty bourgeoisie" but came up with a similar moniker - "stripping away the artistic tone" - for those they deem apologists to the West.

OK, if this is too much jargon, let me put their point more bluntly: We are people with grand ambitions, and only grand ambitions suit this grand time and this grand country. As for the rest, you are a bunch of wimps and phonies, if not outright collaborators out to sell out China's interests.

In this Internet age full of soapbox opportunities, this is just what many want to hear. In a newly vociferous environment, the voice of reason is the first one to be drowned out. The more extreme you are, the more attention you'll get. I was pleasantly surprised that many people online questioned the real motive of the writers - to make a fast buck or to promote China's interests. A few reporters have noticed after interviewing the authors that they were not half as "adamant" as they sound in the book. They even mentioned "things in the West that we can learn from".