What is the thesis of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother?

This book, which is actually a memoir of Chua's own
experience of trying to put into practice her own beliefs of child rearing, presents a
sharp challenge to the generally accepted philosophy of child rearing in the west. Chua
argues that, instead of constantly praising a child for the slightest success, parents
should only expect absolute perfection from their children and nothing less. Note what
she says to define her beliefs about child rearing:

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Chinese parents demand perfect grades because
they believe that their child can get them. If their child does not get them, the
Chinese parent assumes it's because the child didn't work hard
enough.

Whilst some may agree
that there is a certain amount of truth in such a statement, at the same time, Chua does
not stop at this controversial statement, and instead chooses to go further, saying at
one stage:

The
solution to substandard performance is always to excoriate, punish and shame the
child.

The bulk of the book
relates Chua's own experience of trying to bring up her two daughters by this
philosophy, and is an honest if somewhat disturbing account of her successes and
failures. Whilst this method did produce results in the case of her daughters, at the
same time the extremes to which Chua went should hopefully make us question the price of
success. Thus the thesis of the story is that we in the west have got it wrong when it
comes to raising children and that we should adopt much tougher
tactics.