China Today: How Population Control, Human Rights, Government Repression, Hong Kong, and Democratic Reform Affect Life in China and

In a richly informative, panoramic report on modern China, the Shanors observe that the failure of Beijing's attempt to impose a limit of one child per family has exacerbated a host of problems, including overpopulation, rural underemployment and mass migrations to already overburdened cities. This husband-and-wife team lived and worked in China on and off from 1984 to 1993: he, a Columbia University journalism professor, taught journalism to students in Beijing; and she was an editor for the Xinhua News Agency. Urging U.S. leaders to exert ``quiet pressure'' on behalf of Chinese human rights activists, the authors explore how China's writers and filmmakers have managed to escape the state censorship that stifles newspapers and broadcast stations. The Shanors air Hong Kong citizens' fears that their freedoms will be crushed when the British colony reverts to mainland control in 1997. This lucid primer also looks at pervasive corruption, looming mass unemployment, repression in Tibet and the power struggle likely to erupt when Deng Xiaoping dies. Photos. (Apr.)