US Cannot Monopolize Freedom and Democracy

In 30 years of reforms and openness, China has made accomplishments that have drawn global attention. Chinese mainstream popular opinion is unquestionably in favor of the ruling party continuing Deng Xiaoping's reforms. However, as China rises to new heights, reforms will enter the deep end. What should the next step be? Where's the next stop? These are the questions which most deserve our serious consideration.

I believe that the next step in reforms is to collectively establish a core system of values. Regardless of whether it's a country, an ethnicity, or even a group of people, they all must rely on some system of values to persevere and come together.

In his 2008 acceptance speech, U.S. President Obama said, “tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.” However, with a little knowledge of U.S. history, you can unequivocally say that Obama is duping you. True, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States established core values for the newly born America, which included freedom, democracy, equality, justice and tolerance. However, leaving aside that the America of 200 years ago was filled with injustice, Obama's ancestors could only be slaves in the U.S. Even just half a century ago, African Americans were an ethnic group still discriminated against and Chinese were given a hard time everywhere.

If we reexamine U.S. history from another perspective, you may also find that it was precisely because this nation established a set of core beliefs — the visionary founding fathers of America turning a few grand phrases of their era into their own value system — that no matter what difficulties it faced or how many crooked, or even evil, paths it walked over the years, America was always able to adjust its course based on those ideals that are being increasingly accepted by all mankind.

When a nation decides upon its core values, it must have foresight. It must break free from the control of interest groups and take the people's history and cultural qualities into consideration. Even more than this, it must adhere to the principles universally accepted by mankind. A nation's core values must gain the acknowledgment and acceptance of the rulers, the elite, and the people to endure and become soft power.

There exists a certain gap in economic levels and societal development between China and the vast majority of nations on the planet that have instituted a core system of values. Without proper recognition of this disparity, one cannot free their mind, and it is easy to become overly cautious and unable to act when devising a core system of values. We should do as Premier Wen instructed, and actively draw upon the spiritual wealth of humanity accumulated over the centuries. Similarly, we must refer to the experience and lessons of the U.S.

For example, when we examine the core system of values which the U.S. founding fathers established when they founded the nation, it is not difficult to see that all throughout, “freedom” comes first. Freedom has two meanings: One refers to a certain people and nation obtaining independence and expelling foreign invaders; the second refers to personal freedom. However, did the America of 230 ago really realize the “freedom” espoused by the founding fathers? Clearly not. Still, this does not stop Americans from holding “freedom” as their most important value, cherishing and pursuing it. It is most likely just for this reason that some have begun to treat “freedom” as a value held exclusively by Americans, completely forgetting their own history. In the past 100 years, Chinese people have cast off dictatorship and driven out foreign aggressors; was this not all in the pursuit of national independence and freedom? Were reforms and openness not for allowing the people to more freely participate in economic and social activity? Even in many aspects of politics, the level of freedom for Chinese has also increased enormously.

The universal values of “freedom,” “justice,” “democracy,” etc. also exist in China, and America cannot be allowed to monopolize these values. China should come to a common understanding on this. However, a nation and a people's core system of values is not something that can be achieved overnight, but must progressively develop and be perfected.

We have reason to believe that in the not-so-distant future, China will have a core system of values that is both in line with national conditions and with the developing course of human history. This will sustain our hopes and our dreams.


Yang Hengjun is a Senior Research Fellow at the Tianda Institute in Hong Kong.