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The Quest for Legitimacy in Chinese Politics Xiang explains the nature and depth of the legitimacy crisis facing the govern- ment of China, and why it is so frequently misunderstood in the West. Arguing that it is more helpful to understand the quest for legitimacy in China as an eternally dynamic process, rather than to seek resolutions in constitution- alism, Xiang examines the understanding of legitimacy in Chinese political philosophy. He posits that the current crisis is a consequence of the incompatibility of Confucian Republicanism and Soviet-inspired Bolshevism. The discourse on Chinese political reform tends to polarize between total Westernization, on the one hand, and the rejection of Western influence in all forms, on the other. Xiang points to a third solution – meeting Western democratic theories halfway, avoiding another round of violent revolution. This book provides valuable insights for scholars and students of China’s politics and political history. Lanxin Xiang is Professor of International History and Politics at The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland. He is also the former Henry Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress. Routledge Studies on Asia in the World Routledge Studies on Asia in the World will be an authoritative source of knowl- edge on Asia studying a variety of cultural, economic, environmental, legal, political, religious, security and social questions, addressed from an Asian per- spective. We aim to foster a deeper understanding of the domestic and regional complexities which accompany the dynamic shifts in the global economic, political and security landscape toward Asia and their repercussions for the world at large. We’re looking for scholars and practitioners – Asian and Western alike – from various social science disciplines and fields to engage in testing existing models which explain such dramatic transformation and to formulate new theories that can accommodate the specific political, cultural and developmental context of Asia’s diverse societies. We welcome both monographs and collective volumes which explore the new roles, rights and responsibilities of Asian nations in shaping today’s interconnected and globalized world in their own right. The Series is advised and edited by Matthias Vanhullebusch and Ji Weidong of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Interpreting the Chinese Diaspora Identity, Socialisation, and Resilience According to Pierre Bourdieu Guanglun Michael Mu and Bonnie Pang Chinese Peace in Africa From Peacekeeper to Peacemaker Steven C.Y. Kuo The Quest for Legitimacy in Chinese Politics A New Interpretation Lanxin Xiang Find the full list of books in the series here: https://www.routledge.com/ Routledge-Studies-on-Asia-in-the-World/book-series/RSOAW The Quest for Legitimacy in Chinese Politics A New Interpretation Lanxin Xiang First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 Lanxin Xiang The right of Lanxin Xiang to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-33971-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-32319-5 (ebk) Typeset in Galliard by codeMantra To my mother, who symbolizes China’s modern history of interaction between the East and West. Growing up a devout Christian, a choir girl at an Espiscopal church in Shanghai, she joined Communist Party 80 years ago to fight the Japanese. Today, at the age of 100, her favorite hobby is singing Battle March of the Republic in English, “Glory, glory, Hallelujah…”…..” Contents Introduction: Legitimacy – East and West 1 1 Legitimacy and state 9 Chinese “arcana imperii (secret of statecraft)” 9 The Rites Controversy and today’s world 19 2 Legitimacy and oriental despotism 27 Raison d’etat 27 The Montesquieuian Moment 34 The foundations of Chinese political thought 38 The Cold War variations 46 3 Fictional legitimacy 53 “Social contract” 53 Liberalism 67 4 Presentation and representation: A republican dilemma 77 Republic without plebiscite 77 Legitimacy as presentation 82 Republic as representation 84 Republic as utopia 91 5 The deeds legitimacy: economic performance: State and economy 96 The Weberian moment 100 Legitimacy and monetary 109 viii Contents 6 Externalizing the Mandate of Heaven 119 Cognitive framework 119 China between Rome and Greece 127 The Neo-Enlightenment rhetoric on China 133 Concluding remarks: restarting cultural dialogue 142 Bibliography 145 Index 151 Introduction Legitimacy – East and West The fundamental dispute between China and the West focuses on the question of political legitimacy. No doubt, the People’s Republic of China has been facing the most serious legitimacy crisis since its founding in 1949. But the roots of this crisis are generally misinterpreted in the West, because the conceptual framework in describing China has lost its validity. The prevailing assumption is that any political problem in China would come from a single source, i.e., lack of “democratic legitimacy.” But this interpretation cannot explain why China’s legitimacy crisis has emerged during its most sustained period of economic boom in history. It is the contention of this book that there are twin sources of the current legitimacy crisis: on the one hand, there is the project of cultural restoration through which Chinese leader Xi Jinping attempts to restore “Confucian legitimacy” or the traditional “Mandate of Heaven”; on the other hand, Xi refuses to start any political reforms, because it is his top priority to preserve the existing political system, i.e., a ruling system derived mainly from an alien source, the Bolshevik Russia. The two objectives are totally incompatible and increasingly heading toward fatal clash. The communist rank and file, not to mention the population at large, has lost faith in this decision-making system.1 No one, not even the most hardened communist ideologue, can explain why such alien system should be preserved forever – now the nation is on the path of cultural revival to realize so-called China Dream. The prevailing scholarship in the West fails to comprehend the real Chinese legitimacy crisis, because it is deeply rooted in modern Western academic disciplines that are largely irrelevant to Chinese history and cultural tradition. The post-Enlightenment West has long interpreted politics in China through various disciplines of political “science,” political “philosophy” and, of course, the Eurocentric historiography. It has also created a language framework through which arbitrary judgment can only be sustained by political speech-acts.2 As Ludwig Wittgenstein famously put it, “Words are also deeds.”3 Modern West- ern political analysis is often aimed at hiding political speech-acts behind conceptual abstractions; no matter what they are called: “philosophy,” “science” or “universal values.” Therefore, the most challenging task in this study is to nav- igate carefully the conceptual and logical traps created by post-Enlightenment terminologies that deliberately obscure the political speech-acts when dealing