China’s Road Ahead: Problems, Questions, Perspectives

140 Pages·2014·1.72 MB·English

by  Roland Benedikter

SpringerBriefs in Political Science
For further volumes:
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Roland Benedikter • Verena Nowotny
China’s Road Ahead
Problems, Questions, Perspectives
1 3
Roland Benedikter Verena Nowotny
University of California, Santa Barbara Former Foreign Policy Spokesperson
Santa Barbara Government of Austria
CA Vienna
USA Austria
ISSN 2191-5466 ISSN 2191-5474 (electronic)
ISBN 978-1-4614-9362-4 ISBN 978-1-4614-9363-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-9363-1
Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013950106
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Endorsements
“This is a book I recommend to students and teachers around the globe. It provides
a concise introduction into present China’s main problems, questions and perspec-
tives. A must for all who try to understand the rising Pacific giant not through short-
term answers, but through long-term questions.”
Professor Ole Bruun, Institute for Society and Globalization, Roskilde University,
Denmark
“The rise of China to global superpower calls for clear, condensed, yet comprehen-
sive comments for the broader public. This book accomplishes those goals, provid-
ing a quick yet comprehensive introduction into what we may expect as the Middle
Kingdom seeks to assert what it increasingly sees as its rightful role as a leading
world power.”
Professor Richard Appelbaum, MacArthur Foundation Chair in Global & International
Studies and Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara
“The new constellation between China and the West needs inspiring departure
points of discussion, which may be sober or provocative. This booklet is both in
one. It should be used as a basis for in-depth discussion and I recommend it for
classrooms and the global civil society debate.”
Professor Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Mellichamp Professor of Global Studies and
Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara
v
Abstract
China today is a rising giant in transition. Since the start of the new government
under Xi Jinping, reforms are underway on all levels and in every field: politics,
economy, finance, demography, and religion. The relation between (Communist)
elite and (Confucian) culture is shifting, and so is the one between the government
and the population. Meanwhile, the military-industrial complex is rapidly expanding
its influence and outreach. Will China be able to master the many, and in many ways
unprecedented challenges? Will it succeed to balance an all too rapid development
by making it more sustainable? In other words: Will China succeed in moving from
a “successful” to a “resilient” society? What is the road ahead?
vii
Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................. vii
Foreword .......................................................................................................... xi
Introduction: China, a Giant in Transition ................................................... xiii
About the Authors and Contributors ............................................................. xv
1 Xi Jinping’s China. The Motive Behind China’s Current
Transition: Foreign Success is Changing Domestic Behavior ................ 1
Roland Benedikter
2 T he Cry for Chinese Democratization: Between
Idealism and Realism ................................................................................. 21
Roland Benedikter
3 T he 2012–2013 Generational Power Transfer and Its
Perspectives: The Rule of Law or Democracy? ....................................... 27
Roland Benedikter and Verena Nowotny
4 T he Ethnonationalism Problem: Is There a Feasible Solution
in Sight? The Cases of the Uyghurs and Tibet ....................................... 47
Roland Benedikter
5 China’s New Foreign Policy and the West: The Case
of the European Debt Crisis ..................................................................... 73
Roland Benedikter and Jae-Seung Lee
6 China and Its Neighbors: How to Sustain Democracy
and Democratization in the Pacific? The Case of South Korea ............ 79
Roland Benedikter
ix
x Contents
7 China: The Road Ahead ........................................................................... 97
Roland Benedikter
8 Perspectives I: Basing China’s Government on Legitimacy
and Values: An Interview with Peng Bo ................................................... 107
Verena Nowotny
9 Perspectives II: Coexistence Between Communitarian China
and the Individualistic United States: An Interview
with Robert Martin Lees ........................................................................... 113
Roland Benedikter
Foreword
One can often learn more from questions than from answers. This plum of ancient
Chinese wisdom provides a fitting departure point for some reflections on this mas-
terful book on present China. For neophyte and advanced scholars in every realm
of the social sciences, for policy makers and for concerned individuals, set in the
panorama of disruptive transformation in world order with social, political, eco-
nomic, technological, ideological and values dilemmas on every continent, China
is in a phase of unprecedented transition that demands attention, understanding and
reflection. This book provides a significant resource for all who would go beyond
the headlines, the myths and popular assumptions and probe deeply into China’s
development.
China’s Road Ahead is not a compendium of dogmatically inspired answers,
but a pondered set of critical questions. From the vantage point of interdisciplinary
scholars with extensive practical political experience and broad access to relevant
people and information, the authors carefully share their at times provocatively ar-
ticulated perspectives as challenges to the reader to further question, research and
assess.
The core question: What will be China’s road ahead? framed in the context of the
recent transfer of power to a new generation of leaders leads to a well constructed
array of more detailed questions which include:
• How will the new generation of leaders guided by president Xi Jinping respond
to expectations of an increasingly open, transparent, pluralistic and internation-
ally proactive China?
• How will this leadership address the interrelated set of pressing issues that are
high on the agenda of both China and countries around the world such as citizen
participation, the fight against corruption, environmental degradation, resource
scarcity and social reform?
• If China steps-up its drive for reform and development, maintains its commit-
ment to advance the rule of law and strengthens its resolve to build a harmonious
society, can and will democracy with Chinese characteristics evolve over the
next decade?
xi
xii Foreword
• As nations around the world still teeter from the global economic and finan-
cial crisis, and challenges such as youth unemployment, technology driven
change, and social and economic apprehension are spreading even into some of
the most advanced economies, how will China deal with the transition from a
once rural nation and now manufacturing powerhouse toward a modern learning
society while continuing to find the resources needed to provide comprehensive
and advanced infrastructure, research and development, education and social
services to support the levels and quality of development needed by its enormous
population?
While China’s global leadership in poverty alleviation is internationally acknowl-
edged as are its achievements in addressing the United Nations’ Millennium Devel-
opment Goals, too many in the West still judge the Middle Kingdom on the basis of
sensational headlines. Too few have an adequate understanding of the complexity
of the challenges and opportunities and the need to address all elements of this dy-
namic reality simultaneously. And while an increasing number of Westerners have
misgivings or even fear the rise of the Pacific power, few can point to objective
reasons for such feelings.
In this situation, it is essential to strive to build a more pondered picture of one
the oldest cultures and nations on earth. With the danger of misunderstandings, re-
ductionism and confrontation increasing proportionally to China’s rise, it is impor-
tant to proceed towards building a mosaic that is more objective and realistic based
on insight rather than fear on the one hand and uncritical admiration on the other.
To help build this mosaic, it is most useful to have access to a solid framework
to explore China as it embarks not only on a change of era but on an era of change
characterized by rapid evolution, fraught with a seemingly insurmountable array of
problems, dilemmas, and contradictions. In this, it is critical to foster an inclusive
dialogue, and positive engagement.
China’s Road Ahead is a very valuable resource for all who are committed to
share in the tasks of building this essential mosaic. I recommend it warmly to
everybody interested in the “new” China of Xi Jinping.
Shanghai, October 2013 Prof. Frederick C. Dubee

Executive Director International of the Global Management Education Institute
of Shanghai University and of the MBA Center of Shanghai University
Senior Advisor of the United Nations Global Compact Program
Honorary Professor, Beijing Genomics Institute
Co-editor of China: The Way Forward, Beijing 2010