Going at China's Breakneck Pace

BOOK REVIEW: Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future

By Dan Wang / W.W. Norton

Reviewed by: Jean-Thomas Nicole

The Reviewer — Jean-Thomas Nicole is a Policy Advisor with Public Safety Canada. The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policies or positions of Public Safety Canada or the Canadian government.

REVIEW — Dan Wang’s Breakneck is a timely and incisive exploration of China’s transformation into what he calls an “engineering state”—a nation that has fused technocratic ambition with authoritarian governance to achieve rapid modernization.

With a rare blend of analytical rigor and narrative clarity, Wang offers a deeply informed account of how China’s infrastructural and technological rise is reshaping global power dynamics.

Wang is uniquely positioned to author this book. A research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and formerly at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, he spent six years in China as a technology analyst for Gavekal Dragonomics, covering semiconductors, clean tech, and industrial policy from Beijing and Shanghai.

Gavekal is a leading provider of investment research and provides in-depth coverage of China’s economy, politics, and social issues. Founded in 2002 by Arthur Kroeber and a part of the Gavekal group since 2007, it combines rigorous analysis of macroeconomic and sectoral data with on-the-ground reporting.

Wang’s widely read annual letters from China, along with essays in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, have made him one of the most cited voices on China’s technological ascent.

Breakneck is his first book, but it builds on years of public intellectual work that blends philosophy, policy, and on-the-ground observation.

In Breakneck, Wang argues that China’s developmental success is not a paradox of repression and growth, but the result of a deliberate state-led engineering ethos.

He contrasts this with the United States, which he characterizes as a “lawyerly society,” hamstrung by litigation and regulatory inertia.

Through case studies of megaprojects like high-speed rail and urban expansion in cities like Shenzhen, Wang illustrates how China’s centralized governance enables long-term planning and execution at a scale unmatched in the West.

Yet, the book is not a celebration of authoritarianism. Wang is clear-eyed about the costs of China’s model: the trauma of the one-child policy, the zero-COVID lockdowns, and the pervasive surveillance state are all addressed with moral seriousness.

However, I might argue that these issues are not explored in sufficient depth. The book tends to foreground elite perspectives and macro-level analysis, leaving less room for the voices of those most affected by the downsides of rapid development.

Wang’s comparative framing—juxtaposing China’s engineering state with America’s legalistic stagnation—is one of the book’s most provocative elements.

While it offers a fresh lens on global competition, let me offer a word of caution to avoid risky oversimplification: the portrayal of the U.S. as paralyzed by legalism may overlook the structural diversity and democratic deliberation that also characterize American governance, even if one might consider that the current U.S democratic system is dangerously backsliding or openly veering towards decomplexed, Chinese-style, autocracy.

Moreover, Wang’s prescriptive suggestions for the U.S.—such as embracing a more ambitious, engineering-driven mindset—could be seen by some informed readers as under-developed, aspirational, or idealistic.

Another critique is that Breakneck occasionally flirts with romanticizing authoritarian efficiency. While Wang does not endorse China’s political system, his admiration for its infrastructural achievements may inadvertently lend legitimacy to undemocratic governance models, especially when contrasted with Western temporary dysfunction.

Despite these criticisms, Breakneck is a landmark work. It challenges Western readers, especially policymakers and expert analysts—to rethink assumptions about governance, innovation, and the future of global power.

Wang’s writing is lucid, his insights are original, and his ability to bridge empirical observation with philosophical reflection makes this book essential reading for anyone concerned with the strategic implications of China’s rise.

Breakneck is not just a book about China—it is a mirror held up to the world. For readers, it offers both a strategic warning and an intellectual provocation: the future may belong not to the most democratic or the most innovative, but to the most determined.

Will the United States of America be up for that immense and epochal challenge from China?

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