 IntroductionDominique Rambures A chapter in The China Development Model, 2015, pp 1-8 from Palgrave Macmillan Abstract: Abstract According to Tocqueville, who had been through several revolutions, ‘the most dangerous time for a government is the time when it starts reforming itself’. Over the last 30 years, China has been reforming its economy at breakneck speed; nonetheless, nothing has changed in its institutional framework. It is hard to believe that the communist regime has not changed at all while everything else has changed so dramatically. In China, as in every other country, a period of reformation is a crucial time. Confucius’ answer when a student asked him what he would do should he be in charge of the government is well-known: ‘I would start by checking names.’ Obviously, Confucius (Kong Fu zi) did not intend to rewrite the dictionary but to make sure that words fit with what they are supposed to mean. His close follower Mencius (Meng zi) used to say: ‘If words communicate the truth, that’s enough’ and ‘I hate the things which are not what they are supposed to be.’ (XV–41). Not all members of the Chinese Communist Party are devout Confucian, but they know the power of words. Keywords: European Union; Chinese Communist Party; Chinese Economy; Party Member; Communist Regime (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-46549-8_1 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan |
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