1) China as an Ancient Civilization — its imperial legacies
"Present-day China is a product of its deep imperial past and of its 20th century revolutions… It carries forward powerful legacies that inform basic ideas and practices. It also shapes its policies in the crucible of the largest bureaucratic structures in the history of the human race, structures that reflect both the imperial era's legacies and China's wide-ranging emulation of the Soviet Union in the early 1950s. ...The legacies and institutions of the distant and more recent past will in varied, cross-cutting ways shape the future (Kenneth Lieberthal, a well-known China scholar in the U.S.).
During the traveling seminar, we will take a look at three major legacies from China's imperial times: a state system based on moral leadership (rule by virtue and example) and ideological commitment (Confucianism), strong personal leadership at the apex (rule of emperors with mandate of heaven) and a nationwide governing bureaucracy.
No other influence has been more predominant in shaping China's governing tradition for the past two thousand years than that of Confucianism. Its emphasis on the ideal of paternalistic authority, moral example of rulers and proper and harmonious relationships (hierarchical) between people has nurtured a culture that values authority, stability, continuity and harmony. Another enduring legacy is the Chinese bureaucracy. Out of the ruling elite's Confucian beliefs grew an imperial bureaucratic system that was based on hierarchy, centralization and the state as propagators of the correct moral framework for the society. Thanks to its basic structure and idealized forms, the imperial bureaucracy lasted for nearly two millennia, collapsing only in 1911.
Even after the Communist Party came to power, these ancient legacies continue to influence the way government functions and its relationship with the citizens. The traditional Confucian emphasis on the group rather than the individual and on respect for authority continued to this day.
2) Road to Modernization — a tortuous path
China's effort to modernize did not start in the late 1970s when Deng Xiaoping started the reforms. It started more than 100 years ago in the late Qing dynasty when China's self-superiority was fundamentally challenged by the new industrial powers of the West. Ever since then, Chinese elites have constantly debated the core question: how best to make the country wealthy and strong?
The road to modernization has proved to be a tortuous one. During the 19th century, disillusion with the traditional way of governance compelled the Chinese elites to look for alternatives, including efforts to emulate Western industrial powers. But the inability of the Qing court to reform itself and growing resentment towards a series of unequal treaties imposed on China by Western imperial powers rendered the attempt of westernization unsuccessful. The 19th century was later described by Chinese scholars as "the century of humiliation." A brief republic form of government after the fall of Qing dynasty in 1912 was quickly replace by civil wars among warlords, Sino-Japanese war and the war between the Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party (Kuomindang) until 1949 when the CCP finally came into power.
The strive for modernization resumed in 1950s by Communist China when the country launched a new round of efforts, following the Soviet-style economic development through a central-planned system. However, the rigid and inefficient system, coupled with constant and disastrous political movements (including the 10-year long Cultural Revolution) again sent the country to the verge of economic collapse by late 1970s.
3) Challenges of Reform — winners and losers
The latest modernization effort in Chinese history started in 1979. Led by Deng Xiaoping, a revolutionary but also a pragmatic leader, China ended its isolation and adopted an open-door policy. Developing a more efficient economy, raising China's living standards and bolstering international security are among the top goals of the Deng-era reforms.
The reform first started in rural areas where peasants, after having met their grain production quota required by government, were allowed to sell the extra products to market. The success gradually spread to urban areas with government loosening its tight control on the development of private business and even encourage foreign investment and business coming to China. With an average growth rate of 9% since the late 1970s, China quickly becomes the world's fastest growing economy.
While the result of twenty years reform is no doubt impressive, problems abound. The widening gap between coastal and inland, rural and urban, rich and poor, the winners and losers; the worsening environmental conditions across China; the emerging threat of a huge number of surplus labor from the countryside and rising unemployment population in the cities; the underdeveloped and unprepared social security system; the crumbling public health system and widespread corruption, all put tremendous pressure on Chinese leaders. How well these problems are addressed will determine whether China can continue to achieve its goal of modernization and what role it will play in the world politics and economic system.
4) From Rule of Man to Rule of Law — struggle with tradition and globalization
Long adhered to the Confucian tradition in governing, China has had a long history of the rule of man rather than the rule of law. Ethics and codes for proper relationships provided the basis for social and political order. Despite of the fact that China had a formalized legal system, law was usually referred only to criminal law and has traditionally been equated with the concept of punishment. It was regarded as an instrument for rulers to govern the ruled. Most often, county magistrate acted as judge, persecutor and jury in one while deciding cases, criminal or civil. Until as recently as 20 years ago, most Chinese had little experience relating law to functions such as protection of civil rights or supervision of government.
Nevertheless, the Chinese understanding of law is changing. Legal reform and promulgation of new laws since 1979 have been rapid and comprehensive. In fact, as far as the number of laws passed during a 20-year period, it is nothing less than remarkable. At least on paper, China's law and legal procedures look increasingly like those used in the West. This is particularly true for laws that relate to the economy, including contract, investment, property and commercial laws. In order to attract foreign investment and achieve economic growth, China has pinned its future on the adoption of western economic models and thus a legal system acceptable to western standards. However, China's transition from its traditional rule of man model to one that is based on the rule of law proves to be a struggle between the forces of tradition and globalization. The implementation has proven to be a much more difficult challenge than drafting new laws.
5) US-China Relations — partners, competitors or enemies?
Over the past two hundred years, American attitude toward China have ranged from distain and mistrust on the one hand, to fascination and compassion on the other. China has evoked in Americans not only feeling of superiority but also sympathy, charity and wonder. Chinese views of America are conflicted too. The United States is at once the most admired and most resented nation in China. The Chinese admire the American's technological accomplishments, widely popular American culture but they are suspicious of the American motives when it comes to its relationship with China.
Indeed, in recent decades, the relationship between the United States and China has swung back and forth between cold antagonism and warm engagement. The tension never seems to be far away. Whether the U.S. and China are strategic partners, competitors or potential enemies, one thing is for sure: the two counties have already been bounded together by an extensive web of cultural, societal, scientific and commercial ties. As one China scholar (David Shambaugh) described it, "engagement with China is fact of life, not a policy preference that can be turned up, down, on or off at the whim of an administration." The reality is, despite of the differences in political systems and cultural dispositions, the two countries will have to learn to deal with each other. Then the next logical question is, how can the United States and China pursue common interest and manage differences?
The September 11 attack and war on terrorism seem to have provided a new focus for the Sino-US relationship. But thorny issues such as Taiwan will still test the fragility of the cooperative relationship.
