From Overseas Press

Developing China's soft power

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-09-26 10:17

China should learn how to export its political and social values abroad, said Daniel A. Bell, a professor of political philosophy at China's Tsinghua University in the New York Times on Sep 23.

What does China stand for? "That question arose at a recent dialogue between Confucian and African thinkers in South Africa funded by the Confucius Institute." Such dialogues are relatively new since "they are carried out on non-Western terms and funded by non-Western organizations." "Now that China has more wealth, it can afford to fund dialogues that explore political alternatives to Western values."

The writer continued to ask that which values does China stand for and how can they be promoted abroad? "Confucianism may be China's main political tradition, but what are the key Confucian values that have the potential to make the world a better place?" "Like liberals and Christians, Confucians believe that their values ought to have universal reach, but China hasn't done a good job exporting its political values beyond the East Asian region." "As China becomes a global political power, such questions are likely to become more salient."

It is time for China to "engage in the global dialogue about political values on its own terms. China can do more good by promoting the political values that inspire Chinese people and can help to make the world a better place if they are taken more seriously abroad."

China's "indigenous values such as meritocracy and harmony" have great place, and "China should do its best to persuade the rest of the world of their value. Of course, it also needs to set the right model at home."