Quest for Modernity and the Tides of History } 783
Socialism, fed.^32 Germans embraced the radical antiestablishment nation-
alism of National Socialism only after the old order proved itself unable to
secure victory in World War I or to rid Germany of the “national humilia-
tion” of the Versailles Treaty. If the CCP gets China involved in a war with
Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, or perhaps in a stark and ultimately
humiliating confrontation with the United States, and loses that conflict, the
prospects for embrace of radical anti-CCP establishment nationalism would
become much greater. The result might be a populist, antidemocratic, and
radical Chinese nationalism determined to mobilize the full strength of the
great Chinese people to win the next round against China’s enemies. It might
look a lot like fascism.
One of contemporary China’s leading advocates of China’s moderni-
zation via democratization, Li Shenzhi (1923–2003), warned against such a
possibility. Li was purged as a “rightist” in 1957 for advocating democracy
but rehabilitated in the late 1970s, and served as advisor on foreign affairs to
Deng Xiaoping during the latter’s visit to the United States. The year before
his death, Li wrote:
Recent years .... have seen the appearance of some extreme nationalists,
who think the United States is too dominant in the world and too over-
bearing and aggressive toward China. ... they have revisited Lenin and
Mao Zedong’s theory that imperialism embodies wars, and they want
China to say no to the United States. They question Deng Xiaoping’s
two main goals of “peace and development” and criticize the Chinese
government’s foreign policies as being too weak. This tendency requires
our attention. China is a big country ... with the largest population and
longest history in the world. A national mentality of self-importance has
been deeply rooted in people’s minds as a result of over five decades of
propaganda. Following the Reform and Open Door Policy the economy
has improved and with it has come a blind arrogance and pride. This
extreme nationalism has a market in China, especially among young
students with a lack of common sense. If we allow it to evolve freely,
it may put the future of the nation at risk. This should be brought to
everyone’s attention.^33
But perhaps China will not democratize. Perhaps it will be an exception
to an otherwise global demand for democracy. Perhaps China will go its
own way based on its unique millennia-long political traditions. Americans
have had a strong tendency to see in China what they want to see, and this
American scholar is perhaps not immune to this malady.^34 A strong and
quite plausible argument can be made that China’s current CCP regime is
highly meritocratic, selecting and advancing people to positions of power on
the basis of demonstrated performance.^35 This cohort of CCP-selected cadres
has, since 1978, achieved an impressive record of accomplishments addressing