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Australia in the Asian Century - White Paper, October 2012

Commissioned by Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia Click here

"Ceremony" (禮) in Confucian Thought and its application to the modern world

"Ceremony" is central to Confucian philosophy on cultivating virtue in individuals and in society. The following extract from Wikipedia is illustrative -

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"The Confucian theory of ethics as exemplified in Lǐ (禮) is based on three important conceptual aspects of life: ceremonies associated with sacrifice to ancestors and deities of various types, social and political institutions, and the etiquette of daily behavior. It was believed by some that lǐ originated from the heavens, but Confucius stressed the development of lǐ through the actions of sage leaders in human history. His discussions of lǐ seem to redefine the term to refer to all actions committed by a person to build the ideal society, rather than those simply conforming with canonical standards of ceremony".

"In the early Confucian tradition, lǐ was doing the proper thing at the proper time, balancing between maintaining existing norms to perpetuate an ethical social fabric, and violating them in order to accomplish ethical good. Training in the lǐ of past sages cultivates in people virtues that include ethical judgment about when lǐ must be adapted in light of situational contexts".

"In Confucianism, the concept of li is closely related to yì (義), which is based upon the idea of reciprocity. Yì can be translated as righteousness, though it may simply mean what is ethically best to do in a certain context. The term contrasts with action done out of self-interest. While pursuing one's own self-interest is not necessarily bad, one would be a better, more righteous person if one's life was based upon following a path designed to enhance the greater good. Thus an outcome of yì is doing the right thing for the right reason."
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"Just as action according to Lǐ should be adapted to conform to the aspiration of adhering to yì, so yì is linked to the core value of rén (仁).Rén consists of 5 basic virtues: seriousness, generosity, sincerity, diligence and kindness.Rén is the virtue of perfectly fulfilling one's responsibilities toward others, most often translated as "benevolence" or "humaneness"; translator Arthur Waley calls it "Goodness" (with a capital G), and other translations that have been put forth include "authoritativeness" and "selflessness."

"Confucius's moral system was based upon empathy and understanding others, rather than divinely ordained rules. To develop one's spontaneous responses of rén so that these could guide action intuitively was even better than living by the rules of yì. Confucius asserts that virtue is a means between extremes. For example, the properly generous person gives the right amount—not too much and not too little".

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It is therefore evident that Ceremony extends beyond Art or Culture in Confucian thought and is meant as a cornerstone of building virtue in the individual and in the society - doing the right thing for the right reason, doing the right thing at the right time and being generous for the right reason and to the right extent.

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, Stephen Green, former HSBC Chairman and long-time ordained priest during his bank chairmanship, wrote "Good Value: Reflections on Money, Morality and an Uncertain World" (Atlantic Monthly Press, February 2010).

There is also much to think about how societies and individuals continue to behave in perpetuating systems and rewards that benefit the few at the expense of the many. Nomi Princs, ex-Goldman Sachs, wrote "It Takes a Pillage - An Epic Tale of Power, Deceit an Untold Trillions" (John Wiley and Sons, 2011) to show how the 1% still keeps on milking the 99%.

Daron Acemoglu and James Roberson wrote "Why Nations Fail" (Profile Books 2012) to show how "extractive" elites and institutions harness the system for their private gains. Althought Acemoglu refers to history and the developing world to support his arguments, Ron Unz, publisher of The American Conservative, asks, as between the U.S. and China, "Which superpower is more threatened by its “extractive elites”? (American Conservative, May 2012). Click here

Therefore, Ceremony in Confucian thought extends well beyond Art and Culture, and beyond the confines of ancient times. Modern-day East and the West have much to learn how Confucian Ceremony can help build the right mindset and behaviour in individuals and societies.

China economic focus, October 2012

Click here for a snap shot by the British Emassy, Beijing

"Addressing U.S.- China Strategic Distrust"

A John L Thornton China Centre paper of the Brookings Institution dated March 2012 features two separate perspectives and a common set of recommenations on "Addressing U.S.-China Strategic Distrust". Click here

The American perspective comes from Kenneth Lieberthal, Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and in Global Economy and Development at Brookings and Director of its John L Thornton China Centre. The Chinese perspective comes from Wang Jisi, Director of the Centre for International and Strategic Studies and Dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University.

Both perspectives suggest that neither the U.S. nor China necessarily thinks that confrontation is the best policy in a mature relationship. The U.S. is prepared to accommodate and indeed welcome China's rise as a responsible superpower while China is not prepared to replace America's global leadership.

However, both the U.S. and China deeply feel that their specific strategic concerns are not appreciated and addressed by the other side, resulting in a deepening of "strategic mistrust" and a security dilemma which can spiral out of proportion.

To minimize mistrust and facilitate mutual understanding and cooperation, the authors recommend "creative thinking" in areas of economics and trade; military affairs; cyber security; and trilateral dialogues - China-Japan-U.S. and U.S.-China- India. to address issues of common regional interests.

The authors recognize that "if such dialogues and related actions do not prove effective, then both leaderships should very carefully consider how to manage U.S.- China relations so as to maximize cooperation and minimize the tensions and conflict, despite each other's deep distrust of the long-term intenions of the other."

China-bashing is not new to Americam politics but has taken centre-stage in the current presidential election campaign. Electioneering is one thing but an all-out confrontation with China after the U.S. election would be "reckless", according to Ed Gresser, director of ProgressiveEconomy, a trade and global-economy research program at the GlobalWorks Foundation in Washington, DC. Indeed, while accustomed to the campaign rhetoric, "China could decide to “walk away” first from a dysfunctional, polarized, deficit-ridden partner, insecure about its own decline and intent on dragging others down with it", as the header for Gresser's article dated 15 October 2012 in YaleGlobal Online has it. Click here

Perhaps the China conundrum could be viewed in the context of how American global interests could best be served in a "Grand Design" advanced by Zbigniew Brzezinski, a doyen in U.S. foreign policy. This global vision has two key tenets - a ""Larger West" and a “Complex East”, where the U.S. acts as “regional balancer”, “replicating the role played by the United Kingdom in intra European politics during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.”

The latter strategy is underpinned by the nurturing of a "U.S.-Japan-China Cooperative Triangle" and managing confrontational U.S. military manoeuvres such as repeated arms sales to Taiwan and periodic U.S. naval patrols within international waters that are also part of the Chinese economic zone, which are "as provocative to Beijing as the reverse situation would be to Washington”.

For an introduction to Brzezinski's "Grand Design", click here

In the final analysis, China's rise is a historic turning of the tide where U.S.-China relationship is set to define the shape of the 21st century, for better or for worse. Nothing should be left to chance as no less than the world's stability and prosperity are at stake.

Much of the distrust between U.S. and China lies initially in lack of understanding and appreciation of each other's key strategic interests.

While ultimately action speaks louder than words, the first step of closer and more frequent dialogue can always be taken without any pre-conditions. For dialogue will at least lead to greater understanding. It will minimize the chances of miscalculation and mis-manoeuvre as much as maximize the chances for closer cooperation and trust-building. 

Both sides may be pleasantly surprised at how far each creative step forward will lead to another in the right direction.