Message to Obama China Unstoppable Move to Modernity as a Cultural State

8/14/2019 Message to Obama China Unstoppable Move to Modernity as a Cultural State

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MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, CHINAS UNSTOPPABLE MOVE TO

MODERNITY AS A CULTURAL STATE

By Francis C W Fung, Ph.D.

CHINA IS A CULTURAL STATE NOT A POLITICAL STATE

China is an ancient country with 5000 years of continuous history and tradition bound.(See Appendix A) This is unique among modern nation states. Notwithstanding the

present Chinese government has made changes on the political scene, the Chinese remain

cultural bound and strongly influenced by Confucius teaching. The idea of mandate from

heaven and in family and nation there is always a central authority only weakened byoutside influence is still alive today. Most Chinese basically are not political activists as

long as the government is doing a good job in performance. Chinese people appear to be

less politically active wherever they are. This appears o be true in China as well as most

Chinese overseas communities including San Francisco, where the population is 40% ormore.

However the mandate of heaven is not irrevocable. This is evident as we witness the rise

of peasant revolts to overthrow the Emperors in the changing of non performing

emperors in history. This right to overthrow the non performing authority is also taught

by Mencius the most renowned Confucius disciple. In Chinese the word country has theduet meaning of nation and family. So the connection of the concepts of family and

country is strong. An authority establishing social and family order is acceptable based

on performance. As a cultural state China can accept different religious and politicalentities to exist in different parts of China.

That is why Deng Xiaopings proposal of one nation different systems for Hong Kongsreturn went off without a hitch. This idea of multi religions and political systems can

work in a cultural state and not necessary in a centralized political state. China as an

ancient culture never created a national religion of her own, instead she accepted alloutside religions. Most notably China merged Buddhism from India with Confucius and

Daoism philosophy into various forms of coexisting Buddhism. In time China will

develop her top down and bottom up converging democracy. It has to be in her way and

on her own priority. It is already happening according to John and Doris Niasbitt in theirbookMegatrends of China. Outside pressure will only unite the Chinese people behind

her government. This is witnessed by the incident of U.S. bombing of the Chinese

Yugoslavia Embassy and the current dispute over U.S. arm sales to Taiwan. Millions ofnet citizens are writing in to support the government.

As a cultural state, China will move towards modernity in a very unique fashion. It willadopt western technology and modern management but she will retain her long traditional

culture. Like manner, in the future, large developing nations will modernize within the

context of their own ancient culture. The rise of China after the 2008 financial crises

becomes that much more dramatic. We will find China reach out to the world with her

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traditional friendship and harmony. Her way of harmony diplomacy will stand in stark

contrast to American aggressive Smart Diplomacy. The world watched our War on

Terror, Neo Conservatism and other foreign policies during the last decade as obviousexcessive use of military power. It is time to understand China as a cultural state and not

a political state and turn a softer side in reaching out to China. We are the most powerful

nation in the world we can afford to show our magnanimity without appearing weak.President Obama with his diverse background has a unique and final opportunity. Laotzu

has said The more powerful the more one should be humble. Let us hope U.S. and

China can reach harmony consensus through better understanding.

CHINAS UNSTOPPABLE MOVE TO MODERNITY AS A CULTURAL STATE

China missed out on the 19th Century industrialization. This time it is moving withdetermination as a Cultural State and not a political Nation State. Soon President Obama

will go to Indonesia and Australia for state visit. He will be likely welcomed as a return

of the favorite son and will be told that Chinas growth is good for Indonesia. In

Australia he will hear that for the first time, a white Anglo-Saxon nation statescontinuing growth is dependent on China. Despite Chinas current economic success,

according to Zhao Qizhengs Feb.4, 2010 article, China has no desire to export her yetdeveloping model (See following Appendix B)

Before we go to the story of Chinas unstoppable growth, lets break for the educatedobservation from Larry Summer, our preeminent economic adviser to President Obama.

In a Feb 1, 2010 PBS Charlie Rose interview, Larry offered the following three summary

of his view on the 21st Century. First, the most momentous event in the 21st Century isthe rise of the developing world, not the current financial crises, as devastating as it may

seem. Second, the most important thing a major nation must do is to empower the

growth of the vast middle class. Without growth and hope of the middle class no matterhow well a nation does in policy and strategy will be in vain. The U.S. middle class livingstandard has been in decline relative to many nations during the last five decades except

brief intervals. Third, in the 21st Century we must know how to harmonize with the

developing world, most of all with China.

Above vision seem in all respect a fit description of Chinas growing momentum as

analyzed in resplendent detail also by Martin Jacquess book When China Rules the

World just freshly out of the press. Contrary to the title of the book, Jacques's finalconclusion is that China will not rule the world. He believes the rise of China will be the

revival of the Chinese culture, and China will resume its heritage as one of the

magnificent civilizations as a Cultural State. One is advised to refer to the book formore details.

Martin Jacques also argued strongly that modernity is not necessarily Westernizationspecifically in reference to China albeit in the 21st Century the developing world will

move towards modernity in their own way according to their own unique tradition and

stage of development. China is so immense, she will continue her development with themajor cities and regions as developed and the rural areas continue as developing regions.

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Jacques with in depth analysis to differentiate China from the European Political States,

also defined China as a Cultural State and not a Political State because of her long

civilization. Of interest, Jaques pointed out that China as a Cultural State in herdevelopment will revisit her ancient cultural heritage and rediscover her cultural roots

such as Confucianism and Daoism and all their glorious teaching of Harmony. Also

China in her move towards pluralism will invent her own democracy. This is supportedby John and Doris Naisbitt, in their 2009 bookChinas Megatrends .John and Doris

detailed in their book that a top down and bottom up convergence democracy is emerging

in China that is holding the government accountable. The readers are highlyrecommended to refer to Chinas Megatrends for an in depth objective and informative

analysis of modern China development.

Here we will only venture to tell a short story of why Chinas move to modernity is nowunstoppable despite Americas intervention with the so called Smart Diplomacy. Chinas

growth will benefit not only her but the whole world. Further, China can never challenge

America in military hard power rather in soft power because she is a cultural state not a

political nation state. Within China as a cultural state various political system is allowed.That is the terms Hong Kong returned to China as one country two systems. In the same

way China extends her hand to Taiwan for reconciliation.

The world of Chinas growth is unstoppable because the momentum she has generated

and the vast potential she has created for her continuing growth. Why does it happen so

fast without us acquiring the right perspective and catch us unprepared? Our hubrisbelief, that the so called Communist China sooner or later will self destruct, is largely to

blame. The Western media in its eagerness to be politically correct is still writes with

deep rooted Cold War mentality. Havent we seen the fall of Soviet Russia so recently?Is China really communist according to our Cold War definition? Will bring back the

Cold War work to bring down China? The truth of the matter is American took our eyes

off the ball because of our preoccupation with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars during thelast ten years, during that time China achieved unprecedented growth in human history in

scale and speed. Now for our future we have no choice but to harmonize with China for

win-win mutual growth from here on as implied by Larry Summer. In fact, any SmartDiplomacy in criticizing Chinas Internet management, selling Arms to Taiwan and

granting Dalai Lama audience by Obama will only demonstrate to the developing world

that we are interfering in Chinas internal affairs. Such is the affinity of the developing

world with China as the leading developing nation.

We should learn that we are also losing the U.N. debate on Human Rights. America in

her Constitution upheld Freedom of speech as an absolute standard. Whereas ChineseConstitution the rights of livelihood, education and medical services is also included

which was regarded by Americans as opportunities. In developing countries all those so

called opportunities are very necessary rights that the government should guarantee thecitizens. America holds the original Constitution as sacred and not easily amendable and

proud of its heritage as one the earliest Constitution. China allows periodic amendment

to keep up with her development needs and is thus more flexible.

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Instead, the story of Chinas growth for our own healthy perspective should be seen as

the simultaneous growth of a massive collection of Chinese regions of Pearl Delta,Yangtze Delta, Beihai Delta and cities like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing,

Tianjin, Wuhan, Jilin, Xian and even Urumqi among many. Imagine, these incredibly

large number of formidable regions and cities are growing in the tradition of Japan andthe four Asian Tigers with Confucian work ethics? As if this is not enough, the powerful

Chinese government today sans any political agenda, is single mindedly focused on

bringing 1.3 billion citizens to the goal of reasonable well being. Their Motto is to followDeng Xiaopings teaching Crossing the River by Testing the Stones. They have no

political agenda or any pretention of offering a model to the world but develop with

Chinese characteristics. They are moving as a huge cultural state rich in 5000 years of

continuous history. That is what we need to prepare for.

If the most momentum event is the rise of the developing nations according to Larry

Summer then China is their shinning star. Our most pressing national priority is to turn

around our Middle Class slide into poverty but not to contain China as our dedicatedgoal. Chinas move to modernity will benefit the whole world as we can see. By

harmonizing with China we open up vast opportunity for us to grow also. Or else we willbe isolated outside the greatest movement in the 21st Century, the rise of the developing

world. All nations have different forms of prejudices, Black, White, Yellow or Brown.

President Obama has a unique chance to show the world that America is less prejudiced.

Deploying Smart Diplomacy to confront China not only will not work, it will actuallyback fire. The developing world will see it as a powerful developed country practicing

information and value hegemony and not harmony.

There has been heavy criticism by Western media that Chinas economy grows by less

desirable autocratic capitalism because the West believes modernization means

Westernization. There is no other viable mode of modernization. This is our doublestandard of passing our judgment onto China when the Chinese move towards modernity

is actually very similar to the way Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore in their

move to modernity during the 20th Century. They all follow Confucius tradition withheavy borrowing of technology from the West. Their individual central government

exercises strong influence on the global development and some industries. Chinese

government may still draft 5 year plans but the actual administration is passed down to

the provinces and cities as the case may be. In Chinas case however, their developmentconsists of a hybrid system of government guiding both State and private industries

according to Martin Jacques. The Chinese innovation and success is remarkable due to

the ability of the State owned enterprises can also go public and raise private capital andthe private industries at times also get federal funding. This two way flexibility is what

turned around the failing Chinese State Owned Enterprises and helped many private

industries to flourish. This flexibility is what Deng Xiaoping called Crossing the Riverby Feeling the Stones and is quite a stroke of Chinese genius.

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We routinely attack China as having an undesirable political system. But we are off the

target. China is not a political nation state. She is a cultural state. She goes through all

measures to prove non interference in other nations politics or domestic affairs. She hasneither political agenda nor a development model to enforce on others. China is a cultural

state with 5000 years of inscrutable tradition and preeminence. Her ancient cultural

influence was extended mostly through harmony rather than outright conquest. A longlasting continuous culture like Chinas cannot be subject to broad criticism from a young

dynamic country without appearing rude and hubris to other developing ancient cultures.

Particularly China is moving towards modernity in her own way and paces by satisfyingher vast middle class population. On record, China has lifted over 500 million poverty

stricken citizens to a reasonable life from a hopeless state and desperately in need of

livelihood in the shortest time in human history. That is quite an impressive miracle for

the entire developing world to see.

The relation of China with African developing nations is particularly worth mentioning.

Today China is the largest investor in Africa according to Martin Jacques. Chinas labor

and technical teams are also busy working to build badly needed infrastructure in Africa.Her help to African nations usually have no strings attached. Unlike China, Western help

generally follows with political agenda. Despite Western medias unfair suggestion ofChinese Neocolonialism, Chinas economy is very complementary to African developing

economies. That is why African nations will be more likely to side with China in the

event of any show down between China and America. Traditionally African nations

consider China as their trusted friend because China delivers what she promises. This isunlikely to ever change. It makes undeniable logic that America best harmonize with

China in our joint efforts for three way win-win development for all parties concerned to

help Africa modernize. Unity in diversity and win win mutual development is theinevitable tide of the 21st century developing movement.

So far for the last 30 years U.S. and China have been operated on the principle ofcooperation. and not confrontation.. In future it is advisable for both nations to continue

their Harmony Consensus and share in the win-win development according to the

Summer Trend as suggested at the beginning of this essay. Otherwise America mayface being isolated by the developing world when China plays her developing world card.

Currently, U.S. media is debating who is more dependent on the other. Notwithstanding

that China is our biggest lender of our National debt; invariable continuing our hubris, the

media conclusion is that China is more dependent on the U.S. So America will continueour China bashing and why not, we have kept China at bay for the last 30 years since her

reform and open up. Jacques in his book proved conclusively that the developing world

in Asia and China now understands Chinas peaceful intention and their needs arecomplementary with Chinas needs.

It is well known to the Asian and African nations, Zheng He, the Chinese MuslimAdmiral sailed the seven seas during the early 1400s in seven expeditions. At the time

China had the mightiest and most sophisticate navy compared to Europe. Zheng Hes

landings at Asia and Africa were friendly ceremonial gift exchanges and ambassador

exchanges with the visited nations. The mighty expeditions never led to occupation and

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colonizing of the lands visited. These expeditions deeply impressed Asian and African

nations today that Chinas peaceful mentality. Although the West prefers not to give

Zheng He the credit of his achievements in comparison to Columbus, his remarkablevoyages of the seven seas finally is well recorded by Gavin Menzies, in his book 1421,

The Year China Discovered America.

U.S. out spends the world combined on armament for the last 30 years after the Cold

War. In the 2010 budget, President Obama again escalated defense spending to increase

missiles and F35 fighter aircrafts for security reasons. This is very disappointing inview that Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Fortunately all Chinese leaders

read Sun Zi, follow the Deng Xiaoping teaching for China Observe developments

soberly, maintain our position, meet challenges calmly, hide our capacities and bide our

time, remain free of ambition, never claim leadership and avoid serious confrontations.

China is a cultural state for the last 5000 years of continuing history. Rich in Harmony

Philosophy as taught by Confucius and Lao-tzu, even Sun Zi advised to win any

confrontation without the necessity of war. Hopefully, the current disputes between U.S.and China created by U.S. arm sales to Taiwan, President Obamas coming meeting with

Dalai Lama and the Google incited charge and counter charge of Internet Freedom andInformation Imperialism will not get out of hand. World Harmony can be practiced

between America and China through Harmony Diplomacy will not only minimize

conflicts between the two leading powers but is essential for world peace.

In conclusion, Jacques summarized in his book The West will progressively discover, it

will increasingly find itself in the same position as the rest of the world was during the

Wests long era of supremacy, namely being obliged to learn from and live on the termsof the West. For the first time, a declining West will be required to engage other cultures

and countries and learn from their strengths. The United States is entering a protracted

period of economic, political and military trauma. It finds itself on the eve of apsychological, emotional and existential crisis. Its medium-term reaction is unlikely to

be pretty: the world must hope it is not too ugly. Hopefully, Obama will be the harmony

president we elected him for.

Francis C W Fung, Ph.D.

Director General

World Harmony [email protected]

San Francisco, Feb. 2010

Edited by James C Townsend

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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APPENDIX A (From China Daily)

The natural way is to rule by morals

He who rules by the law dies by the lawHe who rules by the sword die by the sword

The natural way is to rule by morals

The Chinese civilization is an experiment in ruling by wisdom and by morality.

Some times we fail, some times we succeed

When we fail, dynasties fall and there is much sufferings.

But this spirit has sustained us for 5000 years and will continue to sustain us.We must not give up trying.

The American revolution started a new force

There, they believe in democracies, fightings, forming cliques and parties.

Of laws and of the sword.Of checks and balances and of lobby groups.

Theirs are born of a firm conviction of the fallen man...that men are inherently evil born with the originalsin.

But, Confucius teach that men are born good and innocent

It is our duty to build a society based on morality, wisdom, trust and relationships.

Tyranny of the majority is not the aim

Unity is the aim for divided the nation will fall.

Ours is an onerous task.In the pursuance of unity

We aim for 100% agreement through negotiations and harmony.

51% is not enough

We need to control the flow of information

The propaganda department has the key role to play

Unhealthy influences will be blocked

As food is nutrition of the body

Good quality information is the food of the mind.The temple of the mind should be protected.

2010-1-30 03:02 PM

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APPENDIX B

Scope of 'Chinese model' too wideBy Zhao Qizheng (China Daily)

Updated: 2010-02-04 07:48

Comments(2) PrintMail

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China's development in the last three decades has been an enticing topic for theinternational community. Joshua Cooper Ramo, an expert on contemporary China,was a pioneer who summarized the reasons for China's economic success. Hebelieved China had a developmental route that suited the conditions of the nationand the needs of society, and it sought fairness and growth of quality.

His "Beijing consensus" explanation cited hard work, active innovation, bold

experimentation, incremental progress, accumulation of talent, and resolute defenseof the national sovereignty and interests as the keys to success. "Commitment toinnovation and constant experimentation" was the soul of his Beijing consensustheory that advocates dealing with problems in a flexible and case-by-case manner.

Many comments since then have extended the "Beijing consensus" to a "Chinesemodel", and many works on this theme have emerged. Those authors give differentaccounts of the so-called Chinese model from various perspectives. Many of themare fairly objective, but there are also malicious voices from ideologues who preachthe platitude of the "China threat" and warn of the export of the Chinese model. Infact, neither the "Beijing consensus" nor the "Chinese model" is brought up by China.

The word "model" has an implication ofpattern, and may imply that China is toteach other countries. China does nothave that intention, however. Hence,we must be very cautious when usingthe phrase "Chinese model". I wouldprefer to use "Chinese case" and

Related readings:China pledges new efforts to boost

rural developmentChinese leader urges efforts for sound

recovery, sustained development ofworld economy

People's happiness is the real goal ofdevelopment

China to achieve fast-paceddevelopment, lasting stability in Tibet

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include the ideas, policies, practices,achievements and problems in theprocess of China's development sincethe foundation of the People'sRepublic, especially in the last three

decades. It combines a socialistsystem and a market economy. It is aprocess rather than a status, since it isstill developing.

Some Westerners comment that the19th century was the British century,since Great Britain was the master ofthe ocean. The 20th century was theAmericans' century due to the US'military and economic supremacy.

But the 21st century will be China'scentury, or at least the Asian century. Ifthe Chinese century or Asian centurymeans that China and Asia is to reviveeconomically and culturally, it is aprobable scenario. If it implies China isto dominate the world just like the UKand the US did, then it is a false

judgment. Considering China's culturaltradition, contemporary foreignpolicies, national power and the will ofthe people, Chinese hegemony in the21st century is merely a fantasy andwill never come true. The internationalsurroundings do not allow for anotherhegemonic nation.

Last year, Martin Jacques, a Britishcolumnist and academic, published abook named "When China Rules theWorld" in which he forecasted thatChina will be the largest economy inthe world by 2050. Goldman Sachs

made an even bolder projection thatChina's GDP will be twice as large asthe US GDP in 2050. Theseprophecies, however, are far toooptimistic. Even if they are fulfilled, percapita output of China will still be muchlower than in the US.

But contrary to the appalling title of his

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book, Jacques's final conclusion is thatChina will not rule the world. Hebelieves the rise of China will be therevival of the Chinese culture, andChina will resume its position as one ofthe magnificent civilizations.

China does not have any motive toexport the so-called Chinese model.Any developing country, in itsdevelopment strategy, must accountfor its own national conditions. The so-called Chinese model is not universallyapplicable, nor is the developmentmodel of any industrialized country.

Comprehensiveness can only be valid

when it is subjected to culturaldiversity. For instance, fraternity,liberty, peace and democracy areuniversal values. But for differentnations and cultures in differenthistorical stages, specific forms ofthese values can be quite different.

Francis Fukuyama, the author of TheEnd of History and the Last Man, oncebelieved that the contemporaryWestern political and economic system

is the acme and the finality of humanhistory, and consequently, that historyhas ended. He did not considerprospective innovations in the Westernsystem, and denied the values of thecurrent and future systems of othercountries. Using the Westerndemocracy and free market as the onlybenchmark, he ignored variedhistorical and cultural backgrounds ofhumanity, and rejected the fact that the

world is diverse. Therefore, his theorydoes not stand the test of time.

The Chinese case theory is an ongoingprocess and will be developed andcompleted. Though China hasachieved a lot, difficulties havemounted, too. Economic growth haspushed China's environment to the

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brink of collapse. Economic and socialdevelopment is not balanced betweenurban and rural areas, and amongdifferent regions. The economicstructure is too export-driven. Stable

development of agriculture andsustainable growth of rural residents'income have become even moredifficult. Many problems dealing withemployment, the social safety net,income distribution, education,healthcare, judicial justice, public orderand others, are yet to be solved.Corruption is still very severe. In faceof numerous thorny domesticproblems, China will continue to give

priority to its internal affairs.

China does not admire or expect thestatus of a superpower. For manyyears, it has focused on promotingdomestic development and solving itsown problems. Along with ascendingnational power, China is willing toundertake international responsibilitymatching its capability.

For example, in the past China had notparticipated in the peacekeepingmissions of the United Nations. NowChina has offered more UNpeacekeepers than any other SecurityCouncil permanent member. Chinahas increased its engagement indealing with the global challenges suchas climate change, environmentpollution, natural disasters, terrorism,cross-border crimes, drug smugglingand epidemics. Perhaps by the middleof this century, when China has

become a developed country, it canoffer a more profound understanding ofthe Chinese case and contribute moreto the international community.

The author is director of the foreignaffairs committee of the NationalCommittee of the Chinese People'sPolitical Consultative Conference. The

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article was originally published in thelatest issue of China Reform.

(China Daily 02/04/2010 page8)

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Message to Obama China Unstoppable Move to Modernity as a Cultural State