How is Constructivism Applied to Chinese Government?

Since the 1978 reform led by Deng Xiaoping[1], there is a tremendous improvement in different aspects of China. China is now one of the powerful countries in the world. Looking at its policy, you can actually find the trace of Constructivism.

As we know, Confucianism has a huge impact on Chinese traditional culture; people are raised with its theories and even the government adapts the theories into governing. Confucianism stresses out virtue, spirit and morality instead of materialism, he talked about the importance of trust of governing in Lun Yu[2]:

“ Tzu-kung asked about government. The Master said, 'Give them enough food, give them enough arms, and the common people will have trust in you.' Tzu-kung said, 'If one had to give up one of these three, which should one give up first?' 'Give up arms.' Tzu-kung said, 'If one had to give up one of the remaining two, which should one give up first?' 'Give up food. Death has always been with us since the beginning of time, but when there is no trust, the common people will have nothing to stand on.' ”

In Confucius’ point of view, people’s trust towards the government is always more important than food and other materials that can keep people alive; he believed spirit is an integral part of people’s lives. Government ought to give people hope and trust so that people can rely on it. People should be the first one to be considered and taken care of.

Same as Confucianism, Constructivism concentrates on the ideas and beliefs other than the material aspect of the world. Constructivism is very different from other International Relations theories,

“ Much IR-theory, and especially neorealism, is materialist; it focuses on how the distribution of material power, such as military forces and economic capabilities, defines balances of power between states and explains the behaviour of states. Constructivists reject such a one-sided material focus. They argue that the most important aspect of international relations is social, not material. ”

Since the establishment of Chinese government is significantly influenced by Confucianism, Chinese government always advocates for the idea of “People-Oriented”. Hu Jintao, the leader of People’s Republic of China, stresses out that government should seek development from the fundamental interest of all the citizens. Chinese government believes that it is established to serve the citizens. This is how Chinese government creates its own identity. Chinese government even expands the idea of “People-Oriented” to its foreign policy,

“ People-oriented diplomacy is an important component of China's diplomacy and is aimed at protecting the interests of the people. In the 20th century, when a wave of democratic revolutions swept the world, China followed the trend of the times, firmly supported the people's struggle for national liberation and independence and made great contributions to the regional and world peace. ”

While China itself was trying to change its difficult situation within the country, it still took out a huge amount of money to assist other developing countries, which are facing financial problems. At the meantime, China held more than a thousand projects on helping those countries, it sent out tens of thousands medical personnel to them. All those projects mostly focused on people, including constructions of schools and other infrastructures. China establishes it identity in the world by applying the idea of “ People-Oriented” to the world.

As we know, China is always considered as the peacemaker in the world. China has been trying to established fine relationships with most of the countries for a long period of time. After the revolutions in both Tunisia and Egypt ended, China immediately start building new relationships with the new governments established in both countries. China also sent out financial and material help to the people in Libya. This is a strategy China is trying to develop in order to build its identity in the world. China is establishing good relationships with different countries so that they can recognize China’s position in the world. Therefore, both sides are getting their benefits. Constructivism says that a country is identified by other countries, it cannot just exits by itself. Other countries have to agree with that country’s identity, the country cannot just make up its own identity. China is using this strategy to smooth its path in the future.

China is now following the path of Constructivism; I believe there is still a space for China to make progress either in economy or politics. It’s a fast raising power, however, it’s obvious that it will not become a hegemon of the world as long as it goes with the foreign policy it is using now. But I wonder if there will be a bigger change of the Chinese government structure as it goes along with Constructivism.

Works Cited

1. 廖文义. "国际关系中的建构主义学派." 通识研究集刊 (2006): 247－270.

2. Chang, Kai－ming. "A Review of Chinese Scholars' Researches on Constructivism in International Relations Theory." Review of Global Politics (2009): 21-44.

3. 陈叶军. 中国共产党新闻网. 01 08 2008. 01 08 2008 .

4. Wengu. Wengu. 2003. .

5. Jackson, Robert H. "Social Constructivism." Jackson, Robert H. Introduction to International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. 162-177.

6. Sike, Wu. People's Daily Online. 08 07 2011. 08 07 2011 .

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[1] “Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat.” (Wikipedia)

[2] “Lun Yu also known as the Analects of Confucius, are considered a record of the words and acts of the central Chinese thinker and philosopher Confucius and his disciples, as well as the discussions they held.” (Wikipedia)