중국몽: 새로운 보편가치의 등장인가, 대안근대성의 함정인가?

Abstract

For the past few decades, people around the world have sought alternative modernities to discuss the identity and current issues of various regions, going beyond the scope of modernity representing the interests of the West. Creating a new model of modernity, the establishment of socialism and political, economic, and cultural experiments in China have attracted a lot of global attention. Implemented in earnest by the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, the Chinese Dream presents the unique universal values of China. The goal of becoming the world's strongest economic and military power by the middle of the 21st century contains national ambition to reform the existing international order by spreading its universal value in its traditional culture throughout the world. Inheriting the traditional perception of realizing a country governed by moral values and the national function of 天下一統 (the world is united as one), today’s China has been putting high pressure on neighboring countries in terms of both hard and soft power to achieve its national dream. Severe economic retaliation against countries with conflicting interests, the falsification of history on regions with territorial disputes, and claiming ownership of other cultures are some examples. Exploring alternative modernities, the Chinese Dream breaks the Western-centered temporal frame and offers a hope that the ability to present universal values can be found in various time zones and cultures. On the other hand, it still has to solve the question, Are only powerful countries able to present the value of alternative modernities? and the crisis that alternative modernities can be taken advantage of for the replay of the strong-takes-all centering around emerging countries in the international community. Alternative modernities must not only stop at merely criticizing Western modernity. In order for the Chinese Dream to go beyond China and establish itself as a true alternative modernity, it should embrace various conflicts and acknowledge that the newly proposed universal value is still being developed rather than already completed. This is because values that are biased towards a specific system cannot be established as a true universal value that respects the values and cultures of different regions and pursues fair interactions.