中国对外开放思维定式的稳定性

The Stability of China's Approach to Opening up: A Political Economy Perspective

1840年鸦片战争以后,在中国逐步走上对外开放的进程中充满了争论,争论的核心在于开放中如何处理中体和西体之间的关系。回顾160多年中国对外开放的历史,可以发现其中存在着一个长期稳定的折衷思维定式,其基本思想可归结为“学习西方必须兼顾中国传统”。在人们的政治偏好呈均匀分布时,该思维定式是一个定位在侯泰林直线中点的折衷政策。在实际中,这一思维定式具有使决策者能获得最大多数人支持和抑制竞争政策获取多数人支持的效应。虽然该思维定式对中国的对外开放进程产生了重大影响,但其重要性仅仅表现在它是一个优化的政治妥协方案,而不在于对开放实践的指导意义。对外开放是一个非常复杂和具体化的过程,如果使这一过程受制于“学习西方必须兼顾中国传统”这一简单化的模式,会给现实中的对外开放带来不利的影响。

After the Opium War in 1840, China embarked on a long journey to open up to the outside world. The entire process was characterized by repeated setbacks and endless debates. Central to these debates was the question of the relation between China and the West. In this paper the authors find that a stable approach to opening up has prevailed throughout modern Chinese history. Though the emphasis may have differed somewhat from one period to the next, the basic stance can be identified as 'learning from the West while maintaining Chinese traditions'.Pursuing this approach gives the incumbent party majority support and deters the entry of potential competitive policies. The main strength of this approach is to provide an optimal political compromise over conflicts that may arise in the opening-up process. Opening-up is complicated and no universal rule exists for an optimal process. Subjecting this complicated process to an oversimplified rule such as 'learning from the West while maintaining Chinese traditions,' could have harmful effects.