China Change And Confucian "Benevolence": Human Values, Truth And Policy

Book excerpt: Henry Kissinger observed, 'Everybody wants to be a China hawk.' China is a bully. China is Nazi Germany. China commits genocide. China disrupts the 'international rules-based order.' Responding to such uninformed generalization on the nature of China's regime and its lack of human values, the Western Liberal Democracies have created their own 'China Problem' by clinging to Cold War anachronism. The clash of values is not nearly as deep and extensive as is often claimed. Furthermore, the contemporary public discourse on China needs a complete assessment of the values that have emerged in Xi Jinping's China. Xi is regarded as 'red' like Mao. Xi, however, has abandoned Mao's view of class struggle and his notion of a 'rejuvenated China' embraces traditional core principles that Mao bitterly condemned. 'Ren', or 'benevolence', for example, now informs entwined domestic and foreign policy as 'moderate prosperity in all respects'. 'Ren', or 'benevolence' is aligned with 'common security' and 'common development'. The question is whether this is a positive restoration of traditional values that will contribute to domestic development and international peace, or restorationist Middle-Kingdom-ism designed to assert Chinese values worldwide. This book's analysis of Chinese values argues that the current interpretation of the 'China Threat' is predicated in a serious misunderstanding of Chinese values.It is often commented that China is 'the defining geopolitical issues of our time'. This book is an especially timely contribution to the currently limited public policy debate on China as a threat to Western values and the 'international rules-based system'. Correction is long overdue with reference to speculative assumptions that Xi Jinping's regime represents a return to Mao's regime. 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics' has significantly moved on under Xi's leadership. Hyperbole about China has presumed the continuation of Chinese Cold War ideology and has either lightly commented on, or ignored altogether the resurgence of core traditional ideas in Chinese policy formation. This book provides detailed research of 'Xi Jinping Thought' and 'Xi Jinping Diplomatic Thought'. It adopts a widely construed, but serious interdisciplinary, approach towards the 'China Problem', drawing on both the social sciences and humanities. This wide-angled approach includes 'new sinology' in its recent review of 'translated China', synthesizing tradition and culture with the development of modern Chinese ideology, politics and policy formation. The book's significant topicality is presented within an unconventional approach and formatted contents designed to reach out to the biggest circle of general and advanced, China-interested readers in the time of great debate.