The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...
The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...
The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...
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However, the harmonious world construct is by<br />
no means as promis<strong>in</strong>g as the Ch<strong>in</strong>ese have claimed.<br />
Ch<strong>in</strong>ese leaders would be better served to take a hard<br />
look at this policy call before gett<strong>in</strong>g carried away by<br />
that unqualified praise (在艳媚赞扬声中忽悠过去) <strong>and</strong><br />
mak<strong>in</strong>g another round of zealous promotion.<br />
First, Ch<strong>in</strong>ese leaders should see that their harmonious<br />
world construct is about improvement of<br />
the exist<strong>in</strong>g (U.S./West-led) <strong>in</strong>ternational order, but<br />
not a design to replace it. President Hu’s UN speech<br />
cited earlier attests to this po<strong>in</strong>t. <strong>The</strong>re is no reason for<br />
<strong>Ch<strong>in</strong>a</strong> to over-blow the significance of this construct.<br />
Second, Ch<strong>in</strong>ese leaders should also take a hard<br />
look at the “classical foundation” of the harmonious<br />
world construct, namely, the Confucius teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong><br />
his prescriptions for a harmonious society. <strong>The</strong>re have<br />
been numerous writ<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ch<strong>in</strong>a</strong> to celebrate the<br />
redress<strong>in</strong>g of Confucianism <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ch<strong>in</strong>a</strong> <strong>and</strong> the CCP’s<br />
embracement of Confucius teach<strong>in</strong>g as the cultural<br />
underp<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>Ch<strong>in</strong>a</strong>’s harmonious society <strong>and</strong> harmonious<br />
world construct. 40 However, few have dared<br />
to discuss some of the widely-known problems with<br />
Confucianism <strong>and</strong> their negative implications for the<br />
harmonious world construct. 41<br />
It is beyond the scope of this analysis to provide<br />
an extended discussion of Confucius’ “dream of a<br />
‘communism-equivalent’ harmojnious world” (大同<br />
世界), his “love” for the hierarchical socio-economic<br />
<strong>and</strong> political relationship: ruler <strong>and</strong> servant, father<br />
<strong>and</strong> son (君臣父子), his preference for the rule of benevolence<br />
(仁治) <strong>and</strong> rituals (礼治) to the rule of law<br />
(法治), his admiration for the high class <strong>and</strong> rulers<br />
(君子) <strong>and</strong> prejudice aga<strong>in</strong>st the commoners (小人),<br />
his view on the unalterable class stratifications (唯上<br />
知与下愚不移), his way to make the people follow an<br />
91