Jacques: Understand China as a Civilization State
Excellent commentary by Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World that caused a stir in 2009-2010 due mainly to its title. Despite the sensationalist title, the book is critical in introducing the notion of the Chinese ‘civilization-state’ to readers who are more accustomed to the Western concept of the ‘nation-state’.
There are other manifestations of the civilization-state throughout world history but the Chinese variant is the longest and most continuous. It involves history, politics, culture, language, ethnicity, but above all a Chinese identity. Although China maintains contiguous borders, the civilization-state goes beyond it to incorporate the diaspora. So, while I differ with Jacques’ interpretation of Chinese racialist views and their implications for international relations under a more China-centric world, I completely agree about the need to understand China as a different political entity with a centralized state for over 2200 years.
The Western concept of the nation-state has only been around in China for about a century since the fall of Qing Dynasty. Particularly after the founding of the PRC, the Chinese authorities have adopted it ferociously, constantly making references to national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national unity, and so on. But, in spite of that adoption and the strong rhetoric behind it, the state as a civilization, and people’s relationship to it, especially for intellectuals, remains firmly ingrained in the Chinese mindset.
Chinese people are obsessed by the centrality of the state in their lives and want to serve it in ways not simply out of patriotism. So, the best and brightest want to become officials rather than joining the private sector. This is also true to varying extents in Hong Kong and Taiwan. It’s a concept of the state going back to Confucius that views the state as virtuous and greater than the individual, standing Western conceptions fundamentally on their head. Depending on one’s political persuasion, people want to maintain, reform or revolutionize it, but the result is always very different from the West.
I also agree with Jacques on Deng Xiaoping’s invention of the ‘one country, two systems’ approach to the repatriation of Hong Kong and Macau, which has worked remarkly well in preserving their systems and character. To entice Taiwan to join the fold, they will inevitably have to act on a form of ‘one country, many systems’ that again is contrary to an integral nation-state. This will also influence China’s approach to foreign policy and international relations that is less prone to violence against other states as is the case under the US lead system.
So, over the coming decades, as Jacques emphasizes, the West must begin to understand China on its own notions of the state that will also transform the world.