'Befriending China' is Dee Knight's personal view, based on three visits to China, hosted by the authorities there, that the US is wrongly trying to slander China as an enemy and that we should extol the virtues of the country and its leaders, exemplified by its massive infrastructure programmes and 'kindness' towards its people and other countries. Whether any or all of these assertions hold water or not, they are surely undermined by the one-sided nature of the evidence given. Knight's conclusions come over as naive and unsubstantiated. They showed me things, said they were good and so they must be so seems to be all the 'evidence' the reader is given. Undoubtedly Knight was treated well, shown impressive sights and told glorious tales, but this is opinion and conjecture, not evidenced truth. I found it repetitive, as well as naive and whist well-meaning, really quite difficult to continue to read to its conclusion, not helped by the monotony of the narration.

Thank you to Solidarity Publications | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks, the author and NetGalley for an LRC in return for an honest review.

I couldn’t finish this book as I didn’t realise when requesting this book, that the author was so bias towards China! How can anyone deny the ill treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang?

Numerous international organizations, independent researchers, and media outlets have documented allegations of human rights abuses against Uyghurs, including mass detentions, forced labor, and cultural suppression. For instance there was a CNN investigation highlighting China’s efforts to control the narrative on Xinjiang, detailing the evolution from denial to a comprehensive propaganda campaign aimed at countering international criticism .

I don’t like criticising the author’s voice but it is definitely not suited to narrating. He managed to make it sound boring and lethargic and there was an audible breath after every word.

I was given a copy of both the audiobook and the book Befriending China: People-to-People Peacemaking by Dee Knight from NetGalley and Solidarity Publications in exchange for an honest review.

I was debating whether or not to give feedback on this book as 'partially' is correct to describe the travel writing, which I wanted more of . While I did learn things about China and would very much like to visit, I felt the book lacked a cultural dimension and was very focused on politics.

The narration by Knight was pretty good, I have to say.