My Take | The opportunistic promotion of Confucianism in China

Contemporary Chinese communist ideology is a bundle of contradictions. The latest edict, according to an opinion piece in the state-funded Global Times, is that party members must not follow any religion. But what about Confucianism?

Presumably it's still OK for non-party Chinese to believe in a religion, notwithstanding the state's recent crackdown on Christian groups in the eastern province of Zhejiang , which has some of the highest concentrations of Christians in the country. Granted, communism is atheistic. But who really believes the Communist Party today is still communist except in name? Its internal party discipline and domestic suppression is still Leninist, but "state capitalism" or "corporatist state" is a more accurate description of its true nature.

It is precisely because the state is not really communist that it promotes Confucianism as an ideological substitute. Today, Confucianism is billed as the country's millennial tradition and hundreds of state-funded Confucius institutes are spread around the world. The political or ideological emphasis is on its rich cultural aspects.

But it is surely a religion. It may not be monotheistic like the three great religions that believe in one god. But like Buddhism, which remains the country's dominant religion, it has a heavy religious dimension and foundation. Take away its belief in "Tian", the way of heaven, or the way ("Tao") and it becomes nothing but an incoherent collection of sayings by the sage.

The state's celebration and promotion of Confucianism are opportunistic. Our rulers are happy to exploit its emphasis on loyalty and obedience to authority, seeing that as a way to encourage nationalism. Politically, Confucianism has been used as an ideology to boost the legitimacy of the state through many dynasties.

But the Global Times is probably right in rebutting claims that the lack of religious belief is to blame for widespread corruption among cadres or moral decay in society. Highly religious societies, including Christian ones, have been known to be corrupt. There is a simple explanation for widespread corruption in China today - state capitalism and its unbridled power and greed.