On the Notion of “Peaceful Rise” and its Value Orientations: Some Views from China

Abstract

As Chinese President Xi Jinping assesses, the entire world is now facing unprecedented changes not seen before in hundreds of years. In this respect, China has in recent years increasingly turned to its tradition, including philosophical concepts of ancient thinkers and traditional values, to draw on its own historical experience in the search for new formulas and ways of building (or rebuilding) a world order, as well as to promote its “peaceful rise”. In this article author attempts to find answers to the question, “What is meant by China's peaceful rise?” in the writings of Chinese scholars. It briefly outlines the ongoing debate on the essence of China's peaceful rise, and hence the experts' views on what impact the Chinese rise may have on the world order as a whole. The paper pays attention to the question of value orientations in this process by analyzing a number of new so-called Chinese theories of international relations and foreign policy. Examples touched upon include the theory of the “celestial” system, the theory of “moral realism”, and the theory of new cosmopolitanism, the development of which takes into account the essential need of modern China at the international level. In particular, their role for the construction of the community of destiny of mankind both on the theoretical and practical foreign policy level is also studied. As the main conclusion, it is noted that China today is gradually moving along the specific path, the essence of which is reflected in the four idioms put forward by Fei Xiaotong. Adhering to this path, China takes various opportunities and occasions to show the world which way it will develop under the guidance of values emanating from the depths of Chinese history and culture. Author is grateful to Prof. A.N. Karneev and T. Kuznetsova for constructive comments on the article's content and editing.