MCLC: Oxford Consensus

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Ian Johnson <iandjohnson at gmail.com>
Subject: Oxford Consensus
***********************************************************

Source: Sinosphere blog, NYT (10/18/13):
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/full-text-of-the-oxford-cons
ensus-2013/

Full Text of the Oxford Consensus 2013
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

In August, at the Sixth Annual Forum for Chinese Theology on “Christian
Faith and Ideological Trends in Contemporary China,” held at Oxford
University, Chinese scholars representing a wide range of ideological
backgrounds committed themselves to work together to address challenges
facing China and the world.

Below is a copy of their signed statement of that commitment, the “Oxford
Consensus 2013,” in English and Chinese.

Some Consensuses Concerning the Present Situation and Future of China

As China is rising up, the Chinese view of the world and the world’s view
of China are changing. In the meantime, social problems in China have
become increasingly conspicuous. What is the direction of China? What kind
of change will China bring to the future of the world? These have become
questions of urgent concern by more and more people both in China and the
rest of the world.

We are a group of Chinese intellectuals with diverse academic and
ideological backgrounds in the new liberal, new left, new Confucian, and
Christian traditions who love the holy land of China and are faithful to
our people. We treasure intellectuals’ responsibilities as critics and
sentinels of society. We hope, in this critically important time of change
in China and the rest of the world today, to carry forward the moral
character and rational spirit bestowed to intellectuals by our history. We
will mobilize the power and resources in culture and ideas to spur our
nation and the society on to a higher and better level.

We recognize that, to face the great transformations of China and the
world, every single school or party of social thought has its limitations
and we must work together to complete the drawing of the credible
blueprint of a loving and trusting future society. Therefore, we
intellectuals must engage in honest exchange and sharpen each other on the
basis of respecting genuine differences, so that we will reach the
urgently needed consensuses on the present and future development of China.

Through a process of sincere discussion and careful deliberation, we have
reached consensuses in these aspects:

1. We hope that China will firmly hold to the governing philosophy of “the
people as fundamental,” that is, the political power comes from the
consent of the people, the foundation of the political system is to
protect the rights of the people, and the aim of the state is for the
pursuit of happiness of the people.

2. We hope that China will firmly hold to the social principle of
“fairness and justice” in social life, that is, insisting on the basic
principle of treating all Chinese citizens equally and maintaining justice
in the domains of politics, economics, society, culture, ethnicity, and
gender; in all processes of legislation, judiciary and administration; and
in the areas of education, healthcare, housing, work, recreation, care of
the old, etc., so that all people’s life will have material security and
spiritual dignity.

3. We hope that China will firmly hold to the cultural goal of pluralism
and liberalism while inheriting and transmitting the excellent Chinese
culture. On the precondition of reasonable balance of collectivity and
individuality, in the principle of fairness and justice based on rule of
law, we hope that China will protect the diverse pursuits of every ethnic
group, every social stratum, every region, every vocational group, every
community, and every individual in their moral values, ideational
interests, academic inclinations, arts styles, religious beliefs, opinions
and views, etc. On the principle of harmony with difference, all will
peacefully coexist and have opportunities for free development.

4. We hope that China will be committed to constructing a fairer and more
just world order, treat international disputes in politics, economy,
culture, military, environment, etc. on the principles of mutual
dependence and mutual benefits, so that it will serve the interest of all
Chinese people as well as the whole of humanity, promote peaceful
coexistence and harmonious development for all nations in the world, and
to achieve the great peace under heaven for all.

On 22 August 2013
Signed by these people (in alphabetical order):
Chen Ming
Chin Ken Pa
Gan Chunsong
Gao Quanxi
Gao Shining
He Guanghu
Huang Paulos
Huang Jisu
Jin Yan
Liu Peng
Lü Xinyu
Luo Gang
Qin Hui
Ro David
Sun Shangyang
Sun Yi
Wang Wenfeng
Xu Jilin
Xing Fuzeng
Xu Youyu
Yang Fenggang
Yao Xiyi
Yao Zhongqiu
Yeung hee nam, Daniel
Zhao Lin
Zheng Jiadong
Zheng Yefu
Zhu Xiaohong

关于中国现状与未来的若干共识

在中国崛起的大背景下，中国的世界观与世界的中国观正在改变。与此同时，中国的社会
问题也变得日益突出。中国将走向哪里？会给未来的世界带来什么样的变化？已经
成为中国和世界上越来越多的人迫切关心的问题。

我们这些具有自由主义、新左翼、新儒家和基督教研究等不同学术或思想背景的中国学
人，都热爱中国这片土地，都忠于我们的人民。我们珍视知识分子发挥社会反思与守
望的功能，希望在今天中国与世界变化发展的重要关头，发扬这个群体历来所富有的道德
情怀和理性精神，以文化和观念的力量推动国家和社会向上向善的演进。

我们承认，面对中国和世界的大变局，任何一家一派的社会思想都是有局限的，一个可爱亦
可信的未来社会蓝图需要大家共同努力才能完成，因此，知识分子都应该在尊重
不同观点的基础上进行真诚交流、互相砥砺，由此形成关于中国当前和未来发展所亟需的
思想共识。

我们通过认真的讨论交流，在几个方面达成如下共识：

1、我们希望中国坚持“以民为本”的治国理念，即以人民的认可为权力的来源，以人民的权
利为制度的基础，以人民的福祉为国家的目标。

2、我们希望中国坚持“公平正义”的社会原则，即在政治、经济、社会、文化、民族与性
别各领域，在立法、司法和行政诸环节，在教育、医疗、居住、工作、休息和养
老等方面，都以公平对待所有中国公民、实现社会生活正义作为基本原则，使全体人民的
生活不仅有物质的保障，而且有精神的尊严。

3、我们希望中国在传承优秀文化的同时，坚持多元而自由的文化目标，以群己关系的合理
平衡为前提，以公平正义的法治为原则，保障各民族、各阶层、各地区、各职业
群体、各社会团体以及所有个体多种多样的价值追求、思想旨趣、学术倾 向、艺术风格、
宗教信仰和言论主张等等，和而不同，都有和平共存的环境，都有自由发展的机
会。

4、我们希望中国致力于建设更公平、正义的国际秩序，以相互依存、互利共赢原 则处理
涉及政治、经济、文化、军事、环境等方面的国际纠纷，既有利于全体中国人民
也有利于全人类，促进世界各国各族的和平共处与和谐发展，最终达致天下太平。

2013年8月22日
签署（按照姓氏拼音排名）：
陈明
干春松
高全喜
高师宁
何光沪
黄保罗
黄纪苏
金雁
刘澎
吕新雨
罗岗
卢敬雄
秦晖
孙尚扬
孙毅
王文锋
许纪霖
邢福增
徐友渔
杨凤岗
杨熙楠
姚西伊
姚中秋
曾庆豹
赵林
郑家栋
郑也夫
朱晓红