Konstantin Syroezhkin: Transformation of China into a global power - while the myth
China’s use of “soft power” in its foreign policy is not a new phenomenon. If you take a closer look at the ancient treatises on the art of war and 36 Chinese stratagems, it is easy to find that they were based on "soft power". The military power was not denied at all, but the main thing that was relied on in the victory, the ability to take advantage of the weaknesses of the enemy.
It was these installations that the “fourth generation” leadership of China adopted, when, coming to power, it realized that the practiced concept of “peaceful elevation” was negatively perceived by a foreign audience. As a result, the authorities returned to the slogans of "peace and development" of the 1980 era, proclaiming "peaceful development" as the fundamental foreign strategy of China.
Attention to the "soft power" in the modern sense of the term intensified in 2004, after the publication of the article by the Deputy Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Qian Qichen. It claimed that after the events of September 11, the United States began to pursue anti-terrorism policies around the world, but fell into a difficult situation in Iraq. This strategy, developed on the basis of the preventive use of "hard power", has already proven its ineffectiveness. She underestimated the role of "soft power" and international institutions, which deprived America of some of the important tools needed to implement a national security strategy.
And it must be admitted that the Chinese leadership had reason to focus on "soft power." Demonstrating a high rate of economic growth and an increase in the well-being of the people over the course of 30 years, China has made not only its economic but also its political development model attractive to developing countries. It is no coincidence that the idea that the Beijing Consensus dominates the Washington Consensus became popular at the beginning of the 2000s.
In May 2004, the London Center for International Politics published a report entitled “Beijing Consensus”, which dealt not only with the effectiveness of the “Chinese model”. According to the authors, the Washington Consensus "comes from the desire to make bankers happy," and the Beijing Consensus to achieve fair growth in the interests of ordinary people. His goal is growth while maintaining independence; the distinctive features are “a resolute pursuit of innovation and experimentation” (special economic zones), “protection of state borders and interests”, “accumulation of tools of asymmetric force” (including in the form of foreign exchange reserves).
In November, at a meeting with literary and art workers, 2006 identified Hu Jintao with his attitude towards "soft power". Among the tools with which the country’s soft power can be strengthened, it includes culture, calling the search for the direction in which China’s culture should develop, giving a new shine to national culture, increasing China’s international competitiveness, increasing soft power. state forces. "
In January 2007, in the course of the collective study at the political bureau of the CPC Central Committee devoted to the issues of state governance of the Internet, Hu Jintao again referred to "soft power." He said that a properly formed and controlled culture of the Internet is “useful for building up China’s soft power.”
In Hu Jintao’s report at the 17th CPC Congress, the topic of "soft power" was included in the section on the development of culture. At the same time, it was emphasized that in our days culture is becoming “an increasingly important element of rivalry in the aggregate state power,” and the development of culture within the country must be accompanied by an increase in its international influence.
Hu Jintao formulated four main directions for building "soft power": 1) creating a system of basic values of socialism and increasing the attractiveness and cementing power of socialist ideology; 2) the creation of a harmonious culture, the cultivation of civilized mores and customs; 3) raising the shield of Chinese culture, creating a common spiritual hearth of the Chinese nation; 4) stimulation of cultural innovations, building up the life-giving forces of cultural development.
The greatest success in the use of "soft power" China has achieved in foreign policy. New political initiatives such as "smiling diplomacy", "public diplomacy" and "good-neighbor diplomacy" play an important role in Beijing’s desire not only to integrate into the integration processes, but also to become an informal regional leader.
To increase the effectiveness of the propaganda support of its foreign policy activities (especially in relations with the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region and Southeast Asia), Beijing has embraced the values of traditional Confucian thought, which has long been inherent in respect for "harmony". The “harmonious peace” strategy formulated as a result of the adjustments was voiced by PRC Chairman Hu Jintao at the Jakarta Afro-Asian Forum held in April in Jakarta and at the UN 2005 anniversary summit in September of the same year.
A special place in the concept of "soft power" in recent years is occupied by the foreign economic activity of the PRC. China willingly lends to the economies of developing countries. At the same time, unlike in Western countries, it, as a rule, does not determine the allocation of loans by political and ideological requirements. In order to disavow the notion that China behaves as a "neo-imperialist", Beijing has developed such means as improving the monitoring of the activities of Chinese firms and protecting an efficiently operating industry.
Another area in which in the last decade, China has achieved undoubted success, the propaganda abroad of the attractiveness of Chinese culture and Chinese language. At the end of 2010, 104 Confucius Institutes and 357 Confucius classes were founded in 476 countries and regions of the world, and 100 million people studied Chinese as a foreign language.
The mission of Confucius institutions is to promote the growth of understanding of China and Chinese culture throughout the world, to develop friendly relations of the PRC with other countries. And training in them is focused on the specifics of cooperation with China. At the same time, the institutes have at least two tasks: 1) educational, for the implementation of which the developed mechanisms of language teaching and the organization structure of the Spanish Institute of Cervantes, the British Council and the German Goethe Institute are taken as a basis; 2) a less publicized task is to promote the spread of Chinese culture and thereby increase the influence of Chinese "soft power."
The process of teaching foreign students in China is also becoming more active. In 2008, the number of foreigners who came to study in China for the first time exceeded 200 thousand, the top three included students from South Korea, the USA and Japan.
The Chinese authorities are taking active steps to improve the level and quality of training of foreign students studying in China. The Ministry of Education of China has adopted a series of measures aimed at ensuring that Chinese universities accept foreign students of a “higher level”. Confucius institutions operating abroad, which organize special tests for the knowledge of the Chinese language, including the provision of grants for further study in China, also contribute to this task.
Another "decoy" for foreign students is government scholarships that the Chinese government is ready to provide. Thus, according to the head of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education of China, Zhang Xiuqin, in 2010, it was planned to cover 20 thousand foreigners with state scholarships of China, for which the authorities intended to allocate more than 500 million yuan (about 73,5 million dollars).
Nevertheless, despite such impressive successes in the spread of Chinese, in most cases this only shows that foreigners recognize the rise of the Chinese economy, and knowledge of Chinese is only an important help in developing their own business or finding a good job. And this means that the interest in the Chinese language is not projected in any way at enhancing the "soft power" of China. Moreover, this cannot be said about Chinese culture as a whole. The area of its influence is limited mainly by the Asia-Pacific Region and Southeast Asia, and only in terms of traditional Confucian, Buddhist and Daoist values. The ideology of specific Chinese socialism, although not condemned, is not particularly welcomed.
Greater attractiveness is the Chinese economic model. However, the recent increase in social problems, including the result of the cultivation of this model, leads to a decrease in its popularity and negatively affects China’s international image.
Moreover, Chinese experts are aware that the current status of China as a “world factory” manufacturing products for transnational corporations does not contribute to building up “soft power.” "China" imports "foreign knowledge, technology and cultural products, and its own knowledge, technology and cultural products are not only difficult to" export ", but even, perhaps, fade, being under the control and influence of foreign soft power. Therefore, an important strategic direction China's soft power development is streamlining the economic structure based on foreign trade and foreign capital, strengthened support for the progress of sovereign economy and technological innovation, the development of an open system Nanii having Chinese characteristics. "
The situation is even worse with the popularity of socialist values in China itself. The worldview of Chinese citizens (especially young people) has changed dramatically in the past three decades. The collectivist values and the Confucian cultural tradition have been replaced by individual values and elements of Western popular culture that have been actively introduced in recent years (especially on television). In fact, the traditional system of clans has been destroyed, and with it the traditional institution of the family and the worship of elders. An increasing number of young people prefer not to be bound by the bonds of an official marriage, and increasingly, old people cannot count on the help of young people.
Secondly, the dominance of individualism and active propaganda in the 80-90-s of the last century, the famous slogan of Deng Xiaoping that some people or groups can grow rich earlier than others, marked the beginning of the erosion of the ideals of socialism. Few people believe in them now, as evidenced not only by public opinion polls and the latest decisions of the CPC Central Committee, but also by the fact that the number of people who have announced their withdrawal from the CPC via the Internet has exceeded ten million.
Thirdly, the rapid development of the Internet in China and access to the network of a huge number of bloggers significantly limits the possibilities of official propaganda. The activity of bloggers in the social networks of the Chinese Internet has recently increased significantly, and the level of protest sentiments and the number of protests have increased significantly. The events in the Maghreb countries played a negative role, showing that new Internet technologies are beginning to perform socialization functions (the formation of virtual "social networks" and network transmission channels of information using mobile phone and SMS technologies, Facebook and Twitter networks). This has not gone unnoticed in China. The Central Committee of the CPC decided to take the lead.
The last 15-18 of October 2011 of the year in Beijing The VIth Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPC of the 17-th convocation for the first time in stories The CPC and the PRC considered cultural issues at such a high level. Its main outcome was the “Decision of the CPC Central Committee on some important issues of deepening the reform of the cultural system, stimulating the great development and flourishing of socialist culture”, not only developing the provisions on building “soft power” outlined at the XVII CPC Congress, but also dotted “i "in terms of both improving the cultural system and tightening control over the media, especially over television and the Internet.
Prerequisites, goals and objectives, the main course of the reform in the field of culture
As emphasized in the plenary session "Decisions ...", in the modern world, which is at the stage of big development, big transformations and big streamlining, in the conditions of development of multipolarity, deepening of economic globalization, rapid change of science and technology, strengthening of mutual penetration and mutual enrichment of different cultures and ideologies, the role and place of culture in the competitive struggle for the aggregate power of the state become more noticeable; the task of ensuring cultural security state, the strengthening of the cultural "soft power" of the state, the influence of Chinese culture in the world is greatly actualized.
"Solution ..." explicitly names 8 the reasons that prompted the CPC Central Committee to pay serious attention to the problems of culture.
1. In some institutions and regions, understanding of the importance, necessity, and relevance of cultural development is not enough; it is necessary to seriously enhance the role of culture as a stimulator of enhancing the civilizational qualities of the whole nation.
2. In some areas there is a decline in morality, lack of sincerity, views on life and value orientations of some members of society are confused; the system of assessments, the core of which is socialism, as a leading ideological trend, has become more relevant; the task of strengthening the general ideology and morality in the struggle for the unity of the party and all nationalities of the country was complicated.
3. The capacity to manage public opinion requires improvement, the construction of information networks and their management need to be strengthened and reformed.
4. With the power of influence of refined products is not enough yet, the leading forces in the creative production of cultural products need to be strengthened.
5. The service system of public culture is imperfect, the development of culture in cities and rural areas, as well as in different regions of the country, is uneven.
6. The scale of cultural production is insignificant, the structure is irrational, the problem of systemic restriction of the development of the productive forces of culture has not yet been largely resolved.
7. The culture is very weak in “going beyond”, the strength of the international influence of Chinese culture needs to be gradually strengthened.
8. The creation of a detachment of specialists in the field of culture needs urgent strengthening.
As the member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, Li Changchun, speaking at the plenum, explained, “we should see that building Chinese culture does not fully meet the economic development and growing spiritual and cultural needs of the population; does not fully respond to stimulating the development of science, development of social harmony; does not fully meet the new situation in expanding the "open door" policy; there are still many unsolved problems in the field of propaganda, ideology and culture. "
Proceeding from this and outlining the task of “strategic analysis and the gradual preparation of cultural reform,” the CPC Central Committee determined that this reform was necessary for the following purposes: 1) to fully implement the spirit of the XVII CPC Congress, to stimulate the great development and great prosperity of socialist culture; 2) the in-depth implementation of the scientific concept of development, the realization of the goals of the 12 Five-Year Plan, the acceleration of the comprehensive construction of the xiaokang society; 3) enhancing the cultural component of the "soft power" of the state in order to emerge as the winner in the increasingly tough competition of states in the development of their combined power; 4) solutions to current problems in cultural construction.
The main objectives of the reform in the field of culture by the plenum were the following: 1) to deepen the understanding of the importance and relevance of gradual stimulation of the development of cultural reform, strengthen the understanding of the importance of culture by the party and the society; 2) strengthen the creation of a system of values, the core of which is socialism, strengthen the basis of a common ideology and morality in the struggle for the unity of the party, the state and national unity; 3) to revive cultural creative production, how to satisfy the spiritual and cultural needs of the people; 4) to accelerate the development of culture and cultural production, to increase the general cultural forces of China; 5) improve the system and mechanisms of culture, strengthen the energy and dynamics of cultural development; 6) significantly improve the level of training of specialists in the field of culture, significantly expand the squad of these specialists; 7) strengthen and change the management of cultural work by the party.
The main strategic goal of the reform in the field of culture is to build a powerful nation with a socialist culture by 2020, in which cultural, economic, political, social, ecological and civilizational construction would be in harmonious development.
In addition, the "Decision ..." stresses that as a result of the "struggle for the development of cultural reform" should be achieved: 1) the creation of a system of values, the core of which is socialism, the improvement of ideology and morality, the gradual rise of traditions and customs, increase the morals of citizens; 2) increasing the wealth of cultural products, the constant appearance of iconic works that meet the needs of the population; 3) a comprehensive flourishing of culture, creating the basis for a system of public cultural services working on the principles of equality and general accessibility; 4) the transformation of cultural production into one of the main components of the national economy, increasing the power of culture and its international competitiveness; social form of ownership is the main, but at the same time comprehensively develop the enterprises of culture of various forms of ownership 5) culture management system and mechanisms of control over cultural products come to life, become more efficient and diverse; focusing on the national culture, it is necessary to attract the best achievements of foreign culture, gradually improve the mechanisms of cultural openness and the exit of Chinese culture to the world; 6) wide development of the order of cultural workers and improvement of their quality, guaranteed strengthening of the potential of specialists promoting the development and flourishing of culture.
Specifying expectations from the implementation of the reform in the field of culture, Li Changchun stressed that the most important sense of this reform are "four gains", "four transitions" and "three interrelations".
In the conditions of the ideological and cultural diversity of the modern world, exchange, intermingling and competition should increase many times; the place and role of culture in the competitive struggle for the aggregate power of the state will increase significantly; the task of ensuring the cultural security of the state is being updated; the strengthening of the cultural “soft power” of the state, the influence of Chinese culture in the world is significantly actualized.
Culture must become the most important source of creative power and the power of concentration of a nation; in the most important factor of competition for the aggregate power of the state; the most important pillar of socio-economic development; spiritually and culturally rich life must become the ardent desire of the Chinese people.
At the present historical stage, the deepening of the reform in the field of culture and the stimulation of the great development and great prosperity of socialist culture are interconnected with the aim of fighting for the comprehensive construction of the xiaokang society; interconnected with the steady maintenance and development of specific Chinese socialism; interconnected with the implementation of the idea of reviving the greatness of the Chinese nation.
The following directions of the “main course” are proposed for the realization of all the plans: 1) unswervingly be guided by Marxism, stimulate Sinization, modernizing and the mass character of Marxism; armed with the theory of Chinese specific socialism, direct the practice, stimulate work, and ensure the progress along the development of the reform in the field of culture; 2) unswervingly adhere to the promising directions of advanced socialist culture, adhere to its service to the people and socialism; adhere to the course “let a hundred flowers bloom and compete a hundred schools”, adhere to the unity of the traditional and the modern, keep the main course, but encourage diversity; to arm the people with scientific theory, the right public opinion, to lead people, to shape a person with the help of high spirituality, to inspire people with wonderful works; to form active spiritual aspirations in society and inculcate samples of a healthy civilized life; 3) adhere steadily to the course “man is the basis of everything”, closely contact with practice, life and the masses; develop the important role of the people in cultural construction, unswervingly adhere to the fact that cultural development is carried out in the name of the people and relies on the people, and people use its results; to promote the all-round development of man, to educate citizens of a socialist society with ideology, morality, culture, and respect for the law; 4) adhere to the fact that the interests of society are in the first place, adhere to the unity of social and economic interests; in the development of culture to comply with laws, compliance with the requirements of the development of a socialist market economy; strengthen the legal component in the field of culture; on the one hand, to advocate for flourishing, and on the other - for management; strive to ensure that culture and cultural production develops in a sustainable and in complete harmony; 5) adhere to the principle of reform and openness, promote the renewal of the cultural system and mechanisms; using reforms to stimulate development and prosperity, constantly liberate and develop the productive power of culture, raise the level of cultural openness, promote entry into the world of Chinese culture, actively attract advanced cultural samples of various states, and ensure the cultural security of the state.
The main directions of reform
The "Decision ..." proposes six areas in which it is planned to carry out a reform in the field of culture.
The first direction is the formation of a system of values, the core of which is socialism, the strengthening of a common moral and ideological basis for the struggle for the unity of the party, the state and all nationalities.
The basic provisions of this trend are: a) to adhere steadily to the leading position of Marxism; b) unswervingly adhere to the general theory of Chinese specific socialism; c) to raise the national spirit on the basis of patriotism and the spirit of the modern era on the basis of reform and innovation; d) approve and implement a socialist view of merits and shameful acts.
The second direction is to comprehensively pursue the course “serve two” (people and socialism - ed.) And “rivalry two hundred” (course “let a hundred flowers bloom and compete a hundred schools” - ed.), Give people more high-quality spiritual food.
The basic provisions of this direction: a) steadily adhere to the correct innovation course; b) contribute to the development and flowering of philosophical and social science; c) strengthen and reform news work and work with public opinion; d) facilitate the release of a greater number of high-quality works of literature and art; e) to develop a healthy and high-quality Internet culture; (e) Improve the evaluation system of cultural works and revitalize mechanisms.
The third direction is to develop mass culture with all our strength, to guarantee the basic cultural rights and interests of the people. As emphasized at the plenum, "the satisfaction of the basic cultural needs of the people is the main task of socialist cultural construction."
The basic provisions of this direction: a) create a system of services in popular culture; b) develop a modern propaganda system; c) create a system of continuity of the best examples of traditional culture; d) accelerate the development of a unified system of urban and rural culture.
The fourth direction is the acceleration of the development of cultural production, the transformation of cultural production into one of the pillars of the national economy.
The basic provisions of this direction: a) the creation of a modern system of cultural production; b) the formation of a system of cultural production, in which the basis is made up of enterprises of the public form of ownership, but at the same time enterprises of other forms of ownership are developing; c) stimulating scientific and technological innovation in the field of culture; d) expansion of the financing of culture.
The fifth area is the gradual deepening of reforms and openness, the accelerated creation of mechanisms conducive to the development and flourishing of culture.
The basic provisions of this direction are: a) deepening the reform of state-owned cultural enterprises; b) the improvement of the market system of modern culture; c) updating the culture management system; d) improving the mechanisms for ensuring political guarantees; e) stimulating the process of Chinese culture going out to the world; f) active attraction and borrowing of the best cultural results of foreign countries.
The sixth direction is the preparation of a large detachment of specialists in the field of culture, the creation of personnel support for the great development and great flourishing of socialist culture.
The basic provisions of this direction: a) training senior management and improving the quality of cultural workers; b) strengthening the order of specialists in the field of culture at the grassroots level; c) strengthening the professional, moral and behavioral level of personnel in the field of culture.
The seventh direction is strengthening and changing the direction of cultural work on the part of the party, raising the cultural level in stimulating the development of cultural reform. This direction is viewed not only as "the main guarantee of stimulating the development of cultural reform," but also as "the most important requirement for strengthening the political and administrative potential of the party, its advanced construction."
The basic provisions of this direction are: a) to fully and responsibly implement the political task of developing reform in the cultural sphere; b) strengthen cultural leadership groups and party organizations; c) to improve the working mechanisms of general stimulation of cultural construction; d) to develop the creative activity of the masses in the field of culture.
Although in most areas there are only plans so far, administrative measures were not long in coming. A few days after the plenary session, the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television issued an order that 34 satellite television stations, from the beginning of 2012, gradually limited or completely abolished the "vulgar" and "frankly entertaining" programs. These include reality shows. The order identifies programs dedicated to families, the selection of grooms and brides, competitions of talented and quick-witted, talk shows. In addition, the order prohibits spectator polls and the use of ratings as the only criterion on which it depends whether to continue to show the show. Satellite channels are instructed to concentrate on promoting news, increasing the share of economic, cultural, scientific, educational information, documentary and children's programs.
Apparently, in the near future, similar measures will also affect the Internet space - the second Achilles heel of the CPC propaganda machine. However, to restrict access to the Internet and the recently activated social networks will be quite difficult. In any case, the CPC Central Committee understands that it is rather difficult to control the activities of 500 million bloggers.
Some conclusions
As Chinese experts emphasize, the reform in the field of culture contains external and internal aspects, "contributing to the strengthening of the state."
The external aspect is due to several factors. First, in the modern world of deepening economic globalization and political multipolarization, "soft power" is becoming more and more significant in international relations and has become equally important, even, perhaps even more important, force compared to "hard power." As one of the world powers, China must assume international responsibility for the protection of world peace, which must be borne by a great power. And for this, China should, along with an increase in "hard power," pay even more attention to strengthening "soft power."
Secondly, strengthening China’s soft power construction represents an important moment in increasing its international competitiveness. Interstate competition is competition not only in terms of resources, but also in terms of wisdom in their use. "Soft power" is the wisdom expressed in the application of "hard power".
Thirdly, today China has become the main rival of the capitalist countries of the West. And "in order to avoid the mistakes of the Soviet Union", along with the increase in "hard power", it is necessary to maximize and increase "soft power".
No less significant is the internal aspect. The current situation in China and in the world requires not only a transition to a new model of economic development. There are also serious internal social and political problems.
First, the development of the Internet and the transformation of social networks into a factor in mobilizing the population requires more control over the blogosphere and limiting the negative impact on the consciousness of the Chinese population (especially young people) of information spread on some sites and social networks.
Secondly, the leadership of the CPC and the People's Republic of China is concerned that young people are heavily influenced by Western films (especially American ones), standards of behavior and entertainment. Not only revolutionary traditions have been forgotten, but also traditional Confucian values.
Third, the rapid development of market relations leads to increased social inequality, the alienation of people from the party, and a crisis of trust. Differences within the party intensified. That is why the task is to strengthen the faith in socialist ideals, to strive for the consolidation of society around the party.
All this is understandable and understandable. Another question is, what values are offered by the CCP and how much they will be in demand within the country, and most importantly - how can they be promoted abroad?
The values of the times of the revolutionary struggle and the "big leap" are unlikely to be instilled in the younger generation today. Growing up in an environment where China was on the rise, besides, the “sixth” raised in single-child families and subsequent generations are unlikely to understand these values. As Confucianism is repentant, inside China it can serve and serves good service. In this context, a return to Confucian rhetoric, even in the CPC Central Committee, looks completely coincidental. Outside of China and the regions of Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific Region, Confucian values, in spite of their current fashion, are not in demand. Although the two key values of today's Confucianism, the political meritocracy and social harmony, look quite attractive, they, unlike the concept of liberal democracy, do not have a universal and broad audience.
This means that the transformation of China (in terms of aggregate power) into a global power in the near and medium term is likely a myth, although actively supported by part of the Chinese expert community.
First, China is still a regional power, and the region dominated by Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism. This area is very narrow - mainly Southeast Asia. Secondly, China does not have an attractive global ideology (neither Chinese specific socialism nor the renewed Confucianism is clearly pulling this role). Thirdly, China does not yet have sufficient aggregate power (it is certainly growing, but domination is still very far away). Fourth, China does not have a messianic idea of a global scale (only regional). Finally, there are no attractive mechanisms for propagating ideology and messianic ideas (Chinese cinema and television are designed mainly for representatives of Confucian and Buddhist culture, this is not Hollywood).
It seems that in Beijing everyone clearly understands this, and therefore, until recently, China used its "soft power" mainly in economic contacts with foreign countries and in diplomacy.
Today, the task is set somewhat more broadly: firstly, to counteract the negative influence on the public opinion and behavior of the people (especially the youth) of Western ideology and Western values; secondly, by cultivating traditional Confucian values, to contribute to the task of uniting the country and reviving the greatness of China and the greatness of the Chinese nation; thirdly, to increase the influence of Chinese (cultivated by the state) culture, ideology and values in the world and thereby increase the level of “soft power” in the total power of the state.
The task, I must say, is quite ambitious. However, there seems to be no other way for the leadership of the CPC and the PRC. It cannot fail to understand that in the near future, the PRC will face the problem of the coming to power of a generation of so-called "little emperors" who were brought up in a system of values different from their parents. And this is a serious threat not only to the position of the CCP as the leading force, but also for the prospects for the development of the PRC in the paradigm of Chinese specific socialism.
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