Leading Chinese political scientist, co-founder of New Zealand think tank, presents new research on China core ideology
Research first to express China ideology as a single core concept in Chinese language
A leading Chinese political scientist and co-founder of a New Zealand think tank has presented important new research on
China core ideology at a university in China.
Addressing over 260 students and staff at Chengdu University of Technology Sino-British Collaborative Education on May
10, political scientist Li Shangbin shared highlights of his career and presented his latest theory on the core concept
of Chinese ideology which he said had taken over 30 years of self-funded research to develop.
Mr Li is Vice-chairman and founding member of the World Civilization Forum, a think tank established in 2011 with
headquarters in Auckland.
Speaking in Chinese, Mr Li said that the problem of defining China’s political system -- the China Model, or “socialism
with Chinese characteristics” -- has confounded social science experts for decades but was becoming more urgent in
recent years to allay anxieties over China’s rise.
He said that after President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, relevant departments had invested heavily into solving
this problem and had established a National Discourse Office in 2016.
But that had failed to make “meaningful progress.”
“The reason why I think it’s necessary to invite global tenders or to commission research as the solution is because
it’s been a year and a half since Xi Jinping raised this grand project.”
Li said his work was “ground breaking” because it is the first time a single Chinese language term has been used to
define China’s ideology.
A draft of Li’s theory, “Chinese Civilisation Values: Unique and Universal from Western Values,” was first presented to
Chinese President Jiang Zemin in 1998. He said it formed the basis of his latest work which describes how Chinese
ideology can be said to be based on the idea of “Da Yi Tong” (“”), which translates approximately to “big unification”
in English.
“The Chinese civilisation adopts the principle of ‘Da Yi Tong’ as the core concept and uses ‘Da Yi Tong vs. multi
city-states’ as its analytical method, thus forming a ‘superpower culture system.’
“The Western civilisation adopts democracy as the core concept and uses ‘democracy vs. autocracy’ as its analytical
method, thus forming a ‘city-state culture system,” Li said.
Mr Li explained how his breakthrough came when he realised that Western and Chinese civilisations needed to be studied
side by side.
“China’s ‘Da Yi Tong’ and Europe’s democracy are two different social political systems with their own development
styles and challenges, however, both are equally great human civilisations,” he said.
Mr Li is widely regarded as an expert in Chinese political science and civilisation research. In 2004, his research
paper on Japanese civilisation was presented at a joint conference between the U.S. National Security Conference and the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences American Research Center. His work also formed the basis for World Bank reform
projects in China in the early nineties.
Executive Director of the World Civilization Forum, Simon Page, said that New Zealand was well placed to be a leader in
the field of civilisation studies.
“New Zealand is a multicultural society built upon the bicultural base formed by the Treaty of Waitangi. In that sense,
New Zealanders are deeply interested in questions of cultural interaction and effective intercultural communication.
“We also distinguish ourselves on certain issues so even though we are a Western nation with our own values, our country
offers a more neutral atmosphere for discussion,” said Page.
New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will make his debut trip to China this week as Foreign Minister in
Jacinda Ardern’s coalition government. It is understood that discussions on upgrading the two countries FTA will be high
on the agenda.
(ENDS)
World Civilization Forum
Mr Li Shangbin bio:
Chengdu University of Technology
About:
The World Civilization Forum is an independent organization founded in 2011 by leading political scientists and
sinologists to research and resolve issues arising from fundamental differences between the world’s civilisations.