The Emergence of Exchange Politics in China and its Implications for Church–State Relations

Abstract

The politics of efficiency characterised by economic growth alone cannot help to strengthen the legitimacy of the Chinese authorities, because people demand justice, equality and rights. The authorities have therefore introduced the politics of equity, in the form of exchange politics, and the ideology of a harmonious society. Under the new political order characterised by exchange relationships it is not an adequate understanding of Chinese religious policy to see it just as a matter of curbing the growth and influence of religion. In fact, the churches have relatively greater freedom and a greater public role than in the 1980s and 1990s. As the more dependent actor, the churches are still subjected to an authoritarian government. Nevertheless, the more dependent actor is not completely passive, for exchange relationships are always dynamic rather than static. In this paper I focus on Protestantism, and I suggest that the churches should seize this opportunity to work with the government for the common good, on condition that the churches are engaged in reframing the question of the legitimisation of the government by an involvement with the concerns of the people. The churches will need to use soft power rather than hard power, not only because exchange politics in China does not allow challenges to the authority of the government, but also because, unlike the churches in some former Eastern European socialist countries, the churches in China do not have much bargaining power.