Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Pye, Lucian W.

Titel

China: Erratic State, Frustrated Society

Ist Teil von

• Foreign affairs (New York, N.Y.), 1990-10, Vol.69 (4), p.56-74

Ort / Verlag

New York: Council on Foreign Relations

Erscheinungsjahr

1990

Quelle

PAIS Index

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• For all countries that befriend the Peoples' Republic of China, the story is the same: high hopes, then disappointment. The problems with China are far more than just those associated with conventional communist oppression. China has a political system in which: 1. accountability seems to be absent, and 2. no one appears to know where responsibilities should lie. Understanding these problems involves recognizing that China is not a nation-state; rather, it is a civilization pretending to be a state. Expecting that science should provide absolute certainty, Chinese political leaders are easily angered by the fact that technology generally calls for probabilistic thinking. This dogmatic approach to science, along with adherence to "scientific" Marxism-Leninism, has produced a troublesome psychological problem for communist leaders as they try to preserve the dichotomy between essential Chinese values and the dangerous values of "foreign cultures." The fundamental goal in dealing with China should be to strengthen elements within Chinese society that in time can serve as more effective checks against the troublesomeness of the state.