[This was published in Green Watch on 4 April
and in BOGOTA FREE PLANET on 06 April 2015 and a part of this was published in
Dhaka Courier on 19 March 2015]
‘Dreams inspire and propel us. Philosophers,
politicians, writers and musicians have been saying so for centuries.
“Hope is a waking dream,” Aristotle once
wrote. “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,” John Lennon
famously sang, and Shakespeare observed that “we are such stuff as dreams are
made on. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech became the catchphrase of
the American civil rights movement, and Walt Disney built an empire by creating
dream worlds. US presidents are fond of evoking the “American Dream” concept to
convince people that they control their own destinies (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/feature/The-Chinese-dream/shdaily.shtml).
Historically enough, America has a dream
called American Dream, for India it is Indian Dream (India Doctrine) and for
Bangladesh it is named Golden Bangladesh and so on. Shouldn’t China from her
standpoints have a one after the same mood and spirit? If it is so then what’s
that very dream? Yes, it is phrased as ‘China Dream(.zhongguo meng (ÖйúÃÎ)”. Xi
Jinping, President of China, first mentioned the term "the Chinese
dream" during his tour of an exhibit at the National Museum of China on 29
November 2012, shortly after he became leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
That exhibit is called the Road to National Rejuvenation, and Xi said the
Chinese dream is the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Then on March
17, 2013, Xi fully spelled out his thoughts about the Chinese dream in his
first public speech as the newly elected president of China. Asking is ‘What is
Chinese Dream?
The Chinese Dream is, in fact, a novel
idiom within Chinese socialist thought and describes a set of ideals in the
People's Republic of China. Xi narrated it saying "The Chinese dream is
the dream of the whole nation, as well as of every individual. The Chinese
dream, after all, is the dream of the people. We must realize it by closely
depending on the people, and we must incessantly bring benefits to the
people’’. Therefore, Chinese Dream would become the seal of his administration
since he asserted, it is “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. China
started promoting and proliferating the phrase as a jingle, leading to its
all-embracing exercise in the Chinese media. He has avowed that young people
should "dare to dream, work assiduously to fulfill the dreams and
contribute to the revitalization of the nation." According to Qiush, the party's theoretical
journal, the Chinese Dream is about Chinese prosperity, collective effort. From
pragmatic standpoints, Xi’s Chinese Dream is described as achieving the “Two
100s”: the material goal of China
becoming a “moderately well-off society” by 2021, the 100th anniversary of the Chinese
Communist Party, and the modernization
goal of China becoming a fully developed nation by about 2049, the 100th
anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic. It is otherwise a pointer
of what French sinologist David Gosset calls "Modern China",
"Civilization China" and "Global China". The Communist
Party’s propaganda chief, Liu Yunshan, has meanwhile directed that the concept
of the Chinese dream be incorporated into school textbooks. Today it is at
large used by journalists, government officials, and activists to describe the
role of the individual in Chinese society.
Robert
Lawrence Kuhn, an international investment banker and the author of “How China’s Leaders Think: The Inside Story
of China’s Reform and What This Means for the Future," holds that the
Chinese Dream has four parts: Strong China (economically,
politically, diplomatically, scientifically, militarily); Civilized China (equity and fairness, rich culture, high morals); Harmonious China (amity among social
classes); Beautiful China (healthy
environment, low pollution). He further states that “a moderately well-off
society” is where all citizens, rural and urban, enjoy high standards of
living. This includes doubling the 2010 G.D.P. per capita (approaching $10,000
per person) by about 2020 and completing urbanization (roughly one billion
people, 70 percent of China’s population) by about 2030. “Modernization” means
China regaining its position as a world leader in science and technology as
well as in economics and business; the resurgence of Chinese civilization,
culture and military might; and China participating actively in all areas of
human endeavor.
According to Xinhua, a government news agency, the Chinese dream “suddenly
became a hot topic among commentators at home and abroad”. Question is ‘where
did the slogan originate from?’ Interestingly enough, it is, perhaps, the New York Times. In October, 2013, in the run up to Mr
Xi’s ascension, the Times ran a column by Thomas Friedman
entitled “China Needs Its Own Dream”.
Mr Friedman said that if Mr Xi’s dream for China’s emerging middle-class was
just like the American dream (“a big car, a big house and Big Macs for all”)
then “another planet” would be looked-for. Instead he urged Mr Xi to come up
with “a new Chinese dream that marries people’s expectations of prosperity with
a more sustainable China.” When Mr Xi began to use the phrase, Globe, a magazine published by Xinhua, called Mr Xi’s Chinese-dream idea
“the best response to Friedman”.
Strictly speaking, author Helen H. Wang--- based on over 100
interviews of the new members of the middle class in China--- published her
first book ‘The Chinese Dream’ in 2010.
In the book, Wang did not conceptually define the Chinese Dream. Moderately,
she conveyed hopes and dreams of Chinese people through intimate portrays of
this growing demographics. The book has won Eric Hoffer Book Awards. In 2011,
it was translated into Chinese and published in China. In 2012, the 2nd edition
of The Chinese Dream with Foreword by Lord Wei was out. In the Foreword, Lord
Wei noted:
“The Chinese Dream today as portrayed in
Helen's book speaks of a changing China that is discovering consumerism, that
is increasingly globalised, and also at a cross roads. Will her path in years
to come continue to be one that resembles that of Western countries with all
the benefits of further urbanization, wealth, and industrialization, but at the
same time challenges in managing scarce resources, population migration, and
the social problems that affluence can bring, elsewhere called 'Affluenza'? Or
will the Chinese people themselves inside and outside China create a new
sustainable Chinese Dream, based on their ancient values of respect for
culture, family, and nature, harnessing technology and creativity?
It is firmly understood that Xi is respectful
and mindful of more than 5000 years of continuous Chinese culture and his
reference to Confucianism is
noteworthy as well. Confucianism, an ethical and philosophical system that
stresses hierarchy and obedience, was China’s official state ideology during
imperial times, which lasted almost until the opening of the 20th century. It
was despised by the Communist Party during its first decades in power, and on
the whole targeted during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976,
but Xi has long approvingly alluded the sage. Since taking office two years
ago, Xi has also coined the concept of the “Chinese dream,” describing it as
“national rejuvenation, improvement of people’s livelihoods, prosperity,
construction of a better society and military strengthening.”
The Chinese dream, strongly it is held, draws
on the nutrients from China’s exceptional traditional culture and the teachings
of Confucius. In one of his most high-profile endorsements of Confucianism to
date, Xi delivered the keynote speech at an International Confucian Association meeting in Beijing’s hallowed
Great Hall of the People to commemorate the 2,565th anniversary of the sage’s birth in September. “Excellent
traditional Chinese culture, including Confucianism, contains important
implications for solving problems faced by humanity now,” he said. The
Confucian concepts being promoted under Xi are a romanticized ideal crafted by
the Communist Party and not open to discussion or further interpretations, said
Jyrki Kallio, a senior research fellow at the Finnish Institute of
International Affairs. “Xi seems to believe that Confucianism is something that
can strengthen and sustain his own standing in China,” noted he.
There is no denying the truth that the
concept of Chinese Dream is incredibly corresponding to the idea of the "American
Dream". The China Dream has
been defined very differently, as the dream of “the great rejuvenation of the
Chinese nation.” Rather than celebrating individual aspiration and endeavor,
the China Dream emphasizes a collective effort from all Chinese people in step
by step achieving China’s yearning for a “great rejuvenation” in the 21st
century. While both “dreams” hope for success through hard work, the American
Dream stresses the spirit of freedom and social mobility, while the China Dream
(whereas it incorporates individual dreams) pinpoints unity and stability.
Also, the China Dream is unique to the Chinese people. Contrasting the American
Dream, it speaks only to the members of the Chinese nation and is not meant to
be adopted by the world. As a facet of political thought in contemporary China,
the appearance of Chinese Dream indicates a diversion of political ideology
from egalitarianism to a relatively more liberal individualist approach. It is
worth noting that the concept is still based on collectivism rather than
individualism for it sees the subject of Chinese Dream as the people of China
as a whole instead of specific individual hero/heroine.
It’s indecent to argue over which dream is
“better.” Different cultures have cultivated different values, beliefs, and
different political cultures, which cannot be judged with a single
meta-narrative. Obviously, the China Dream is different from the American
Dream, but that does not necessarily lead to an inevitable clash between these
two dreams or even these two states and cultures. In fact, their very
differences might make it possible for the two to co-exist. “Seeking common
ground while reserving differences” is a core value and principle of China’s
culture and its foreign policy as well, and it certainly is a core value that
is deeply embedded in the idea of China Dream.
‘While
the concept of China Dream has been applauded enthusiastically at home, people
outside of China have struggled to ascertain the precise meaning of Xi’s
statement. This is unfortunate because the Chinese Dream is essential for
understanding how a “rising” China views itself and its role in the world.
Failure to understand its meaning will thus heighten the chances for
misunderstanding, with potentially devastating consequences for all parties
involved.Although outsiders almost always speak of China’s “rise,” the Chinese like to refer to their impressive recent achievements and future planned development as “rejuvenation” (fuxing). The use of that word underscores an important point: the Chinese view their fortunes as a return to greatness and not a rise from nothing. In fact, rejuvenation is deeply rooted in Chinese history and the national experience, especially with regards to the so-called “century of national humiliation” that began with the First Opium War (1839–1842) and lasted through the end of the Sino-Japanese War in 1945. China’s memory of this period as a time when it was attacked, bullied, and torn asunder by imperialists serves as the foundation for its modern identity and purpose.
As Norwegian scholar Johan Galtung has noted, key historical events are critical in defining a group’s identity and determining how that group behaves in conflict situations. Galtung argues that the three forces of chosenness (the idea of being a people chosen by transcendental forces), trauma, and myths combine to form a country’s Chosenness–Myths–Trauma (CMT) complex. This CMT complex is an extremely useful tool for understanding the rationale behind many of China’s actions (http://thediplomat.com/2013/02/chinese-dream-draft/)’.
Notwithstanding anything contained in the
Dream, it is not free from scores of criticisms and underestimations by those
who feel and realize that the CCP has a long tradition of providing its people
with a rosy picture of the future. ‘Xi’s Chinese Dream narrative is therefore
like old wine in a new bottle with the dream’s name supplanting Mao’s
realization of socialism and communism, Deng’s invigoration of China, Jiang’s
national rejuvenation and Hu’s harmonious society. With the rising complaints
and unrest from the grassroots level about social inequity, Xi Jinping and the
Party have also made special efforts to connect the Chinese Dream with the
Chinese public. Instead of only
emphasizing the Chinese Dream as the goal for the country and the government, Xi
endeavored to convince the general public that the dream was also for each
individual Chinese. And the realization of this dream for the country would be
the catalyst for the realization of the dream for the individual, including
housing, employment, public health, education and environment. Thus, the
Chinese public could feel connected with the Chinese Dream narrative.
As we can see, Xi’s Chinese Dream continues
the CCP’s tradition of providing the people a rosy and attractive future dream.
The names and contents of the different narratives may differ, but the most
important message of all these narratives from different periods remains the
same: the Party wants the people to believe that only under the leadership of
the CCP can the dream of a better life be realized. As Mao Zedong declared,
“Only the CCP can save China!” Jiang Zemin stated, “Only the CCP can rejuvenate
China!” And Xi Jinping recently said, “We 1.3 billion Chinese people should
bear in mind the mission, unite as one.” To make Chinese people believe this
message is the dream that generations of the CCP leaders have dreamed (http://thediplomat.com/2013/09/the-chinese-dream-from-mao-to-xi/)’.
It
is also held by many that the Chinese dream indicates a shift in the rhetoric
of the Communist Party. Previously each loyal citizen was to sacrifice himself
or herself on behalf of society. Now, individuality is allowed a slightly
stronger emphasis than before. The Chinese dream is a daydream. It is
impossible to fulfil for any worker individually unless he joins hands with
colleagues to fight for better conditions. But that is not the dream of our
president (http://mondediplo.com/blogs/the-chinese-dream-is-a-daydream)
Here the concept of Tianxia (tien-hsia; Chinese: 天下; literally: "under heaven") is very relevant
and reckoning. It is a Chinese language word and an ancient Chinese cultural
concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical
realm of mortals, and later became associated with political sovereignty.
In primeval China, tianxia denoted the
lands, space, and area divinely appointed to the Emperor by universal and
well-defined principles of order. The center of this land that was directly
apportioned to the Imperial court was called Huaxia(Chinese: 華夏),
among other names, forming the center of a world view that centered on the
Imperial court and went concentrically outward to major and minor officials and
then the common citizens, and finally ending with the fringe "barbarians".
The center of this world view was not exclusionary in nature, and outer groups,
such as ethnic minorities and foreign people, who accepted the mandate of the
Chinese Emperor were themselves received and included into the Chinese tianxia.
In classical Chinese political thought, the Emperor
of China (Chinese: 天子),
having received the Mandate of Heaven, would nominally be the ruler of the
entire world. Although in practice there would be areas of the known world
which were not under the control of the Emperor, in Chinese political theory
the rulers of those areas derived their power from the Emperor.
.
The larger concept of tianxia is closely associated with civilization and order in
classical Chinese philosophy, and has formed the basis for the world view of
the Chinese people and nations influenced by them since at least the first
millennium BC. Tianxia has been
independently applied by other countries in the East Asian cultural sphere,
including Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
Here
attention needs to be paid as expected to the reality that ‘Mr. Xi’s
self-assurance is not surprising, but his words and deeds betray a deep vein of
insecurity. The talk of 1.3 billion people dreaming the same “Chinese dream”
can’t hide the fact that China’s leaders continue to be plagued by nightmares
not unlike those that haunted them in 1989. It was under Mr. Xi’s predecessor,
Hu Jintao, in office from 2002 to 2012, that growth rates soared, the 2008
Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, with their high-tech venues
and soaring ceremonies, wowed global audiences, and China launched a flashy
space program. Mr. Xi has gone further even than Mr. Hu in trying to show that
symbols of the old and the new, the classical and the revolutionary, Confucius
and Mao, can be synthesized.Beijing’s handling of the Hong Kong situation was the latest illustration of the party’s fear that its grip on the national rejuvenation package is weaker than outsiders sometimes imagine. It made the Communist Party profoundly uneasy to watch Hong Kong youth show such creativity and determination and demonstrate so clearly how misleading it is for Mr. Xi to claim that “each Chinese person” is capable of dreaming only the party’s authoritarian dream. Thus the lurch from bravado to paranoia..
One of Chairman Mao’s favorite words was
“contradictions,” and today’s China is riddled with them: rule by a party that
is nominally Communist, but embraces consumerism and welcomes entrepreneurs
into its ranks; widespread unease about the environmental, social and even
moral consequences of growth; deep insecurity in the ranks of a party that
outwardly brims with confidence. The dark side of the Chinese dream — the
negative fantasy that haunts China’s psyche — explains why Mr. Xi, the
strongest Chinese leader since Deng, is so skittish, so ready to jump at
shadows. (The Elusive Chinese Dream,
26 December 2014, New York Times, Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, professor of history at the University of
California, Irvine, and the author, most recently, of “China in the 21st
Century: What Everyone Needs to Know)’.
‘All
politics
is cultural, just like all politics is local. While individualism has prevailed
in Western societies and political cultures for hundreds of years, China has a
strong tradition of collectivism and even authoritarianism. Collectivism and
the spirit of unity have virtually dominated Chinese culture, society, and
politics for thousands of years, ever since the time of Confucius (551-479
BCE). Chinese culture, or in a larger
sense Chinese civilization, helped cast and shape China’s unique
contemporary domestic politics and its political culture. Underpinning Chinese
contemporary politics are a great number of traditional values and beliefs such
as the importance of order, reverence for authority, the virtue of rulers, and
most importantly, collectivism or unity.
These cultural backgrounds determine
political perceptions and ideals. Many Westerners view the state as a “necessary
evil” and believe that individuals should constantly remain alert in their
efforts to confine and try to contain the beast. By contrast, the traditional
Chinese view sees the state as an extended and (more importantly) a united
family to which they should show their love and reverence. In fact, the word
for country in Chinese, guojia,
combines the characters for kingdom (guo 国) and family (jia 家). Based on this
cultural perspective, one difference becomes clear: the China Dream is “our
dream”; the American Dream is “my dream (http://thediplomat.com/2014/09/the-china-dream-vs-the-american-)”.
In the article “The Real
"Chinese Dream": Control of the South China Sea?” Bonnie S. Glaser
observed “While
bureaucratic competition among numerous maritime actors is likely a factor that
is contributing to tension and uncertainty in the South China Sea, as Linda
Jakobson argues in her report China’s Unpredictable Maritime Security Actors,
it is probably not the biggest source of instability. Rather, China's
determination to advance its sovereignty claims and expand its control over the
South China Sea is the primary challenge. Xi Jinping has clearly signaled that
“protection of maritime rights and interests” and “resolutely safeguarding
territorial sovereignty” are high priorities, which should be pursued even as
China seeks to preserve stability and maintain good relations with its
neighbors. At the recently concluded Central Foreign Affairs Work Conference Xi
additionally emphasized that China should not “relinquish our legitimate rights
and interests or sacrifice' China's 'core interests.'
As Jakobson relates, uncoordinated actions by
local entities have occasionally created policy confusion, for example by
releasing competing maps of the nation's South China Sea claims. However,
China's most assertive and destabilizing actions have appeared to be well
coordinated, including the placement of the HYSY-981 oil rig in waters disputed
with Vietnam earlier this year and extensive land reclamation projects that are
underway in the South China Sea(http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-real-chinese-dream-control-the-south-china-sea-11863).
For her overall marching onward, China needs
also to be careful about her maritime strategies, projections and applications
under the theme of Chinese Dream. Curiously enough, Lowy Institute Nonresident
Fellow Linda Jakobson in her study ‘China’s unpredictable maritime security
actors’ argues:
China’s
recent assertive actions in the maritime domain are not part of a grand
strategy to coerce China’s neighbours in a tailored manner.
The
restructuring of China’s maritime law enforcement agencies, announced in March
2013, led to a power struggle between the State Oceanic Administration and the
Ministry of Public Security. Consequently, genuine integration of the new China
Coast Guard has not yet taken place.
The
People’s Liberation Army could be taking a more active role as coordinator of
maritime law enforcement in China’s near seas (http://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/chinas-unpredictable-maritime-security-actors).
Yes, despite all such negative landscapes,
there is every possibility for Chinese Dream to get encouraged by this very
Tianxia otherwise in a broader perspective, of course, whether it is officially
or unofficially signaled by the Communist Party of China and, as a result,
concepts such as string of pearls and silk roads (in its modern connotation)
deserve to be an added force under the circumstances, appropriating or
not. Here China’s U-turn from Deng Xiaoping’s foreign policy
dictum “hide its strength and bide its time” (taoguang yanghui),-- Deng’s low-key approach to foreign affairs—to Chinese
Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping’s announcement in January 2014
‘China should be “proactive” (fenfa you wei)’ is a pointer indeed. This
is the equivalent of China moving from first gear into second; and like second
gear, the pace of this new foreign policy can sometimes be jagged. Relevant
compulsion is that China also needs to take care of down-to-earth approach to
the development of professional diplomacy in the domain of her foreign policy.
Let us pay due attention to the reality that
China is now the number-1 world economic power having the 21st
century in right perspective, vision and mission. Let us not forget even for a
moment that America with American Dream, India with Indian Dream and Japan with
Japanese Dream (since Japan is moving fast to enrich her defence stocks and
strategies deviating and sliding gradually from the post world war two embargo)
shall never sit idle to ensure their respective and/or joint dominance in Asia
covering Indian Ocean in particular.
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