Thomas A. Metzger

Metzger continues the effort started in A Cloud Across the Pacific (The Chinese University Press, 2005) by viewing modern Chinese thought as political philosophy; placing it in a sociological context, noting its causal relationship with paideia; examining its historical context by emphasizing the lines of continuity with the Confucian tradition; and exploring its comparative context by describing it as sharing an agenda with and diverging from the leading forms of Western liberalism. East and West, he argues, are ivory towers that use their rationalistic philosophies to insist that the great disasters of history are caused mainly by the bad decisions of political leaders, instead of seeing how their own philosophical discourses lend credibility to these decisions and trying to improve these discourses by uncovering their culturally inherited premises. In an increasingly democratic era when political philosophy is no longer viable as a theory of global-political evolution and as public criticism increasingly affects leadership decisions, Metzger seeks to vindicate a neo-Hegelian definition of political philosophy as the effort to influence public criticism by advertising an outlook more logically and thoroughly supported by a variety of cross-cultural textual evidence.

This book uncovers the basic contradictions between contemporary China's complex ideological marketplace and Western liberalism. It describes and puts into critical context three versions of Western liberalism (those of F. A. Hayek, John Rawls, and John Dunn), three versions of Chinese liberalism (those of Yang Kuo-shu, Li Qiang, and Ambrose Y. C. King), two versions of modern Confucian humanism (those of T'ang Chun-i, and Henry K. H. Woo), and various versions of Chinese Marxism, including Kao Li-k'o's in the early 1990s and some of the recent New Left writings. It shows that all these Chinese political theories, not only Chinese Marxism, depend on a number of premises at odds with Western liberalism, especially epistemological optimism and an extravagantly optimistic concept of political practicability. It also argues that not only these Chinese theories but also Western liberalism have failed to offer adequate normative guidelines for the improvement of political life. This study uniquely combines a deep understanding of the history of Chinese thought with a strong grasp of modern philosophical trends and an innovative methodology for the description and criticism of political theories. It will be useful to students of modern Chinese intellectual history, of political philosophy, of political culture, of the comparative study of cultures, and of U. S.-Chinese relations.

A group of internationally prominent China scholars held a conference at the Hoover Institution in December 1994 to discuss how U. S. policy can best respond to recent changes in China and made clear that a "get-tough" policy would ultimately fail. This volume presents, in ten authoritative chapters, the first comprehensive overview of this complex topic—along with sound reasoning to support its provocative conclusion. The end of the cold war left the United States as the world's only superpower, but greater China was already in the throes of major change. As a post-Mao People's Republic gradually shifted from totalitarianism to a "socialist market economy," Taiwan underwent an "economic micracle" and then democratized. Hostilities between these two governments subsided, but America remained faced with Beijing's continuing authoritarianism and human rights abuses. In light of these circumstances, what posture should U. S. foreign policy adopt in dealing with China: confrontation or cooperation? Indeed, is such a clear-cut choice possible? Thomas A. Metzger and Ramon H. Myers assembled the participants, weaving an overview of this whole problem and concluding that the United States should try to nurture harmonious relations with China. The papers included here analyze the recent evolution of Chinese foreign policy toward Taiwan, Taiwan's development and policy on unification, security and economic issues, and the diplomatic visions that will affect the future of greater China. As a whole, this book coherently formulates the principles that should guide U. S. policy toward greater China in the next decades.

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