Perhaps as Fairbank himself says, "It is not possible to have a real 'China expert' in the world." For a Westerner who is not good at Chinese, understanding China is a process of groping, error, and correction.
但是，費正清的中文頗為「差勁」，而且「言多必失」，所以他的言論中謬誤、誤解、自相矛盾，甚至不敢自承錯誤的情況，也就相當普遍了。