Yan Xuetong is the dean of the Institute of International Studies, Tsinghua University.  [China.org.cn]

Freedom, equality and democracy are common values shared by many people. However, traditional Chinese values: ritual, benevolence and justice, are the values which China should share with the rest of the world.

In traditional Chinese culture, the value of "ritual" requires people to behave in a civilized manner. How to enjoy a meal is considered a personal freedom, but each country has its own table manners. Likewise, people have the right to choose what to wear, but they cannot walk naked in the street.

Benevolence is also a value emphasized in Chinese culture. In my view, "fairness" should be emphasized over the value of "equality" touted in Western nations. The concept of equality is that society should provide equal opportunities for the strong and the weak, instead of protecting the weak. In contrast, fairness includes the concept of protecting the more vulnerable group. For instance, equality gives priority seating to people who get on the bus first, but fairness requires stronger people to give the seats to people who are weak.

In fact, the fairness principle has already seen practical application in international regulations. In terms of reducing the carbon dioxide emissions, the international community has accepted the principle that it should be undertaken by both developed countries and developing countries but with different responsibilities. Fairness is the representation of social progress and is a necessity for social harmony.

Finally, righteousness, or justice, is an important value in traditional Chinese culture. Democracy can protect an individual's political rights, but cannot ensure that people use their power to do the right thing. What democracy ensures is the legality of resolutions, instead of justice for people. The Iraq war in 2003 was supported by most members of the US Congress, but it didn't mean that this war was justified. In Chinese culture, the legality and morality of procedure as well as the result are both important.

Based on the above analysis, ritual, benevolence and justice are the values that China can share with the world.

However, the question is: how to make these values accepted by the world? In my opinion, when a country becomes the strongest in the world, its values will be easily accepted by others. The reason is, the spreading of social habits follows certain directions: from rich to the poor, from strong to weak, from advanced to backward, and from successful to unsuccessful. China now is still not as strong as the US in some aspects, so only if China's values are more attractive will they be more accepted by the world.

The competition between the former Soviet Union (USSR) and the US is different from that between China and the US. The former was like a boxing match: only if you downed the opponent, you could win. The latter, conversely, is like a football game: collisions do exist, but violence is not the way to win. The strategic competition between China and the US needs international regulations which emphasize the principles of civility, fairness and justice.

The author is the director of the Institute of International Studies, Tsinghua University.

(This post was originally published in Chinese and translated by Xu Lin.)

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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