This book is a must-read for anyone who deals with China and possesses an aircraft carrier or two. Former US Treasury secretary Henry (Hank) Paulson has for more than a decade enjoyed a level of meaningful access to the Chinese elite that may be unrivalled among westerners, with the single exception of Henry Kissinger. For that reason, Dealing with China is an important book. But the dealing that Paulson describes is of an order that is hardly likely to trouble mere mortals. His world is one of private jets (on one occasion escorted by F-16s on each wing), billion-dollar agreements with Chinese corporate titans and exclusive meetings with Chinese leaders as a top official in George W Bush’s White House. Thus the book’s main strength is also a shortcoming; his extraordinary experience of China yields lessons that may only be useful if you happen to govern a great power.
任何在與中國打交道、并且能調動一兩艘航母的人，都絕不應錯過這本書。在十多年的時間里，前美國財長亨利?“漢克”?保爾森(Henry "Hank" Paulson)一直與中國統治精英保持著重要接觸，就這種接觸的層次而言，西方人中或許除亨利?基辛格(Henry Kissinger)以外無人能敵。出于這一理由，《與中國打交道》(Dealing with China)是本重要的書。但保爾森所描述的那種“交道”，是普通人幾乎不可能需要操心的。他所處的世界是這樣的：乘坐私人飛機（有一次兩翼還各有F-16戰斗機護航），與中國企業巨頭洽談價值10億美元的協議，作為小布什(George W Bush)政府的頂層官員與中方領導人單獨會面。因此，本書的主要優點也是一個缺點：除非你碰巧是一個大國的治國者，否則他從自己與中國打交道的獨特經歷中總結出的經驗教訓，可能不會對你有用。