Chicago: The University of Chicago Press [distributed for Leiden University Press], 2018. ix, 361 pp. (Maps, B&W photos, illustrations.) US$49.50, cloth. ISBN 978-90-8728-278-3.
How should we understand the rise of China and the challenges it faces? In China and the Barbarians, Nordholt attempts to explain several phenomena: how the history of China shapes the way Chinese policy makers and intellectuals see the world, how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) utilizes nationalism to shape public sentiment and its policies, and whether the current authoritarian mode of governing can continue. Drawing on the philosopher Tu Wei-ming, who sees China as an ideological battleground between socialism, Confucianism, and liberalism, Nordholt suggests that instead of maintaining the current repressive system of governance or following the Western liberal democratic order, China is most likely to follow the “third way,” which will draw on Confucianism and be more receptive to the people’s opinions. Acknowledging that this is a bold claim, Nordholt nonetheless thinks that this path would allow China to achieve the “World of Great Harmony” that the Book of Rites described over two thousand years ago.
The first three chapters provide an overview of the history of “China,” from the time of the First Emperor of Qin (221–210 BCE) to the end of the twentieth century. Nordholt’s focus is on the sinocentric differentiation between “civilized mandarins” and “barbarians,” the narrative of the “century of humiliation,” and the rise of nationalism. Chapters 4 and 5 look at how the leaders of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the post-Mao era utilized the law and the economy to consolidate Party power and assert its legitimacy. Chapter 6 assesses the conditions for liberalism and democracy in contemporary China. In particular, it draws on oral interviews with eight public intellectuals holding different points of view, providing insights into the possible futures of China.
Chapter 7 focuses on how the narrative of the century of humiliation continues to affect attitudes against foreign countries. It draws attention to China’s territorial disputes with neighbouring countries and its tense relations with Japan. Chapter 8 turns to the foreign policies of the Mao and Deng eras. It emphasizes how CCP leaders have always stressed the importance of sovereignty. Chapter 9 demonstrates how the Party uses foreign policy to stir nationalist sentiment, drawing on cases such as the South China Sea dispute and the rise of China as an economic superpower. Chapter 10 looks at the Party’s attempt to fight institutional corruption. Reforms at central and local levels are attributed more to the Party’s fear of losing power than any genuine pursuit of democracy. Chapters 11 and 12 return to the notion of the “third way.” Nordholt asserts that continuing “in the current direction increases the chance of a violent explosion, while the sudden introduction of a parliamentary democracy will most likely lead to chaos” (281). Hence, the “third way” will allow a humanistic approach without the Party forfeiting its dominance.
This book largely covers familiar ground in Chinese history and contemporary politics for keen China observers. It demonstrates how history shapes the mindset behind contemporary policies, such as the classical idea of China being the pinnacle of civilization (versus the neighbouring “barbarians” who were often “tributaries” of China), or the worry/skepticism that foreign countries are still trying to force China into submission as in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By utilizing the narrative of the “century of humiliation” (1839–1949), the CCP can buttress its legitimacy by suggesting that with the establishment of the PRC, it brought foreign influences on China to an end, and that it would not let foreign powers oppress the Chinese people again.
Nordholt’s highlighting of history’s role in shaping PRC foreign policy is understandable, given this monograph’s publication date (originally published in Dutch in 2015 and revised in 2018). What is surprising is that little is said about Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang, four contentious issues that the PRC currently faces. In recent years, anti-PRC sentiment has been on the rise in Hong Kong and Taiwan, notably as reflected in the Umbrella Movement and Sunflower Movement of 2014, while tensions between the government and both the Tibetans and the Uyghurs have long been a problem for the CCP. This book would have benefitted from having a discussion of the local socio-political development of these places, which Nordholt covers briefly without going into much detail, specifically to interrogate how the PRC handles its foreign relations with other countries regarding these places. Moreover, it begs the question of why the PRC would have the incentive to follow the “third way” when it has been taking a strong stance regarding these places.
One final point: In a conversation with his Chinese friends about the number of victims of the Cultural Revolution, Nordholt notes that his friends, while highly educated, found it difficult to “confront objective information,” and that their discomfort is a reflection that “centuries of emphasis on collective thinking have disabled their minds of seeing things in an alternative way” (286). I wonder if an alternative reading might be true: Given the power of censorship in mainland China (which Nordholt addresses in the book), people might be afraid to voice their true opinions out of fear that they would accidentally cross the “red line” and hence get into trouble with the authorities. They dread the prospect of getting reported for saying the “wrong” thing, and hence their reluctance to share their thoughts on sensitive topics. It could also simply be that they know people, perhaps even their family members, who were involved in that traumatic period. The “third way” will have to first address this issue of self-censorship and repair this aspect of torn social fabric before it becomes a feasible model of governing.
Justin Wu
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill