The View | China and the US are engaged in a power struggle, not a clash of civilisations

Even as the United States and China inch closer on trade, issues related to freedom of speech and human rights are flaring up. Although the American government officials who alluded to a clash of civilisations between the US and China are no longer in office, this view may still be influential in President Donald Trump’s circle. Can such a “clash” be justifiably used as a pretext for a cold war between the two countries?

Most cultures are ethnocentric. Imperial China judged if other cultures were civilised from a Confucian perspective. The US assesses other states from its set of “universal values”. The different values that resulted from the two countries’ distinct national histories should not be exaggerated as “civilisational” nor necessarily result in a clash – as long as neither side claims “the end of history” or imposes its values on others.

Some are dismayed at China’s recent illiberal turn. But China’s trajectory has not been easy to predict. Shaped by global, national and local forces, and China’s tumultuous history, the values of the Chinese people won’t necessarily follow the official line.

Today’s China can hardly be conflated with Chinese civilisation. China’s initial westernisation attempts at the end of the Qing dynasty, adopting Western technology while keeping Chinese culture at the core, proved wanting. The May Fourth Movement of 1919 denounced China’s past and advocated a wholesale embrace of the West for the country to develop, even survive. The Cultural Revolution mercilessly dismantled Chinese traditional values.