Dialogue on Views on Civilization | Zhou Xinyu

Public Diplomacy and the Construction of China's Discourse System on Chinese Civilization

Public diplomacy implies that when we discuss the issue of discourse construction, we need to have a practical scenario in mind. It involves considering what kind of thinking will be encountered, what kind of discourse will be constructed, and whom it will be disseminated to. If we approach it from this perspective, the first thing we need to focus on is a specific question. The sentences mentioned by General Secretary Xi Jinping, "let cultural exchanges transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcend clashes, and coexistence transcend feelings of superiority" are responses and answers to specific issues. 

The first sentence, "let cultural exchanges transcend estrangement", highlights the significant challenges faced by civilizational exchanges. Throughout history, there have been two primary forces that promote civilizational exchanges and break down civilizational estrangement: commerce and religion. Only these two forces can drive people to endure hardships and adapt to different civilizations in various places. However, currently, we see that the force of commerce is being suppressed by political forces on the international stage, which poses a significant problem of decoupling and rupture for us. 

Therefore, it is not only discussing the issue of civilization but also addressing the challenges posed by civilization. The second sentence, "mutual learning transcend clashes", is not purely about civilization issues, but about security issues as well. For example, in terms of non-traditional security, civilization conflict is undoubtedly a global non-traditional conflict. The United States and Europe may perceive their conflicts as stable, but for China, they would consider it a conflict brought about by a completely new civilization. This is a significant security issue that we are currently facing or will face in the future. The third sentence, "coexistence transcend feelings of superiority", involves a question of political respect. 

When we say "coexistence transcend feelings of superiority", it mainly refers to surpassing the Western notion of "civilizational superiority". The world is a diverse collection of civilizations that should be protected collectively. This involves the reconstruction or reshaping of an international order that is based on equality, democracy and diversity. Therefore, these three sentences are not solely about civilization issues; they address economic security and political challenges that will impact our economic, security and political goals. Thus, our response should not be limited to the cultural level, such as promoting traditional culture or facilitating cultural exchanges among resources, students and scholars. These measures alone are insufficient. We need to clearly understand that the essence of the current challenges lies in the relationships between nations and civilizations. This is rooted in the political reality of nation-states, which is difficult to transcend within a considerable historical timeframe. 

Therefore, firstly, what we need is a theoretical dialogue. If the dialogue revolves around pointing out each other's shortcomings in the media or getting entangled in practical matters, it will not be possible. It must have a transcendent, normative and theoretical content. This theoretical dialogue is actually a discourse, but this discourse is not without meaning. If we criticize American democracy and freedom, we will find a bunch of content that is neither democratic nor free. However, this does not affect the United States from continuing to shape its discourse about democracy and freedom in political propaganda. Therefore, we should not engage in debates with foreign countries based solely on certain facts, but rather recognize the long historical value and current political significance of discourse. We should strive to construct something that is theoretical, normative and discursive. Secondly, if we want to construct discourse, we need to identify common issues, which are the issues of relevance in discourse. The reason why the discussion on democracy and freedom in the United States has been effective is because in the 18th and 19th centuries, Western society had to confront this issue, particularly the issue of freedom for the emerging working class and the corresponding changes in political systems.

Therefore, the United States placed this discourse at a historical juncture, which is referred to as a common issue. Based on the concepts of theoretical significance, relevance and commonality, what kind of discourse should we construct? Firstly, it is necessary to build a Chinese-style culture, which requires integrating material civilization, political civilization, spiritual civilization, social civilization and ecological civilization. In the 20th National Congress report, the essential requirements for Chinese-style modernization were mentioned. It stated that material civilization entails high-quality development, political civilization involves people's democratic participation throughout the entire process, spiritual civilization aims to enrich people's spiritual world, social civilization aims to achieve common prosperity for all people, and ecological civilization promotes harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. Lastly, it emphasizes the promotion of building a community with a shared future for humanity and the creation of new forms of human civilization. In other words, all these elements converge towards a new form of human civilization. After outlining the Chinese system, the problems to be addressed must be approached from the perspective of human development. Among the relationships between these five civilizations, one that concerns the world at large is the relationship between material civilization and other civilizations. Because the West has created a great material civilization over the past few centuries, everyone benefits from it. 

But what is the relationship between this material civilization and other civilizations? Does it overshadow or diminish other civilizations? This is an increasingly important question today. There are many stories in China that revolve around the relationship between material civilization and spiritual civilization, the relationship between material civilization and social civilization, and the relationship between material civilization and ecological civilization. We have also experienced the challenges brought about by rapid economic development in terms of spirituality, society, ecology and even politics. These challenges are something we all face together. Therefore, we can build upon these common challenges to share common theories, common propositions and common stories. The second question is, why can China solve these problems? First, let's talk about the relationship between political civilization and spiritual civilization. I published a book this year called "The Details of Chinese Politics: Governance of Poverty Alleviation in a County". When we go to the poorest villages, we find that their material civilization lags behind, and we need to change their situation and lift them out of poverty. However, poverty is dynamic, and if people are there, they will be poor. Most of those who are not poor have left. There are also various issues related to spiritual states and social structures, where spiritual civilization and material civilization are intertwined and difficult to separate. To solve these problems, political civilization is needed. This political civilization includes the politics of villages. How to address these issues in political civilization is a concern for the whole world. The United States or the United Kingdom used to be successful in addressing these matters, but their narrative is indeed facing new challenges. What kind of politics can address issues of equality, climate and new capitalism? 

What kind of politics can address the contemporary spiritual crisis raised by artists and philosophers? Lastly, it is important to emphasize a key term: human civilization. We discuss the relationship between nations based on the reality of ethnic groups and countries. However, if the conflicts we can address are all selfish, insular, localized, or related to the civic or crowd-related concepts discussed in Marxism, then how can we establish a global connection among all of humanity? This topic is at least a universal one for the world. It aligns with the aforementioned concepts of theoretical significance, normativity, relevance and commonality. If we can present a logical discourse on the relationships among our five civilizations that is attractive on a global scale because it captures the pulse of the times, we can then explore how to construct a world discourse system for the Chinese perspective on civilization. Nevertheless, regardless of the approach, the underlying problem is significant, and the challenges are immense. It is not a localized issue but a macro-level matter that concerns the entirety of humanity.