BEIJING, May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — China in the 20th century was looking for an answer to Europe and the West. Of course, As soon as we understand Europe not as a normative project, but as a result of its history, the reasons why neither the societies of the African continent nor the societies of Asia will be able to develop in the same way as Europe become clear very quickly. It is therefore only natural that China should seek its own path – anything else would be absurd. Apart from the fact that a uniformity of the world would contradict our high regard for cultural diversity and the human need for it, such uniformity would not be desirable for many other reasons.
We know from the history of mutual perceptions that the dream of China in Europe was very momentous, and one can assume that China’s dream of westernization has been at least as productive over the past hundred years or even more. Of course, we know that, just as in Europe, development and modernization in the different regions of China has been quite different – so there has been and still is a “China at different speeds”.
Now that we have realized the “limits to growth”, the question of a modernity that enables a global society with a certain degree of prosperity arises. At the same time, we should not unduly restrict the opportunities for future generations. Finding a solution here is not easy, but our historical experience and the cultural capabilities of mankind allow us to look to the future with optimism. The fact that the future is open was already known to earlier generations, without cultivating a vision of a common future for mankind.
And because ‘internationalization’ never encompassed “all aspects of Chinese life”, it is all the more plausible that a future with Chinese characteristics is now being sought. Thus, for China’s departure into the future, European sinology is now facing new challenges, the most important of which are, firstly, recognizing the limits of growth, secondly, respecting Chinese perspectives and, thirdly, recognizing the challenges of a post-colonial world society.
Prospects are not bad, not only for China but also for Europe. Europe, however, should remember its own experiences in the process of modernization. The creative experiences of the past and artistic positions as well as research efforts that require freedom, especially in basic research, give us hope. In addition, in the encounter of cultures new creativity as well as productive misunderstandings and very often hybrid constellations emerged.
These opportunities for Europe, however, can only be exploited if Europe heeds the following five demands:
- It must, firstly, remain aware of the historical dimension. Only if Europe remembers that the West’s innovation leadership was the result of specific constellations will it be able to maintain this innovation leadership in the future. For in the future, just as in the past, prosperity cannot be maintained without an innovative edge;
- It must, secondly, cultivate a culture of cooperation, and not – to give an example – restrict small car imports from China to Europe just for the short-term benefit of protecting jobs within Europe;
- Thirdly, it must actively promote educational exchange and the enrichment of learning strategies;
- Fourthly, it must link its own cultural ideas with other concepts of life and different world-conceptions. The result will be an interweaving of cultural patterns creates new opportunities;
- Fifth, it must constantly re-establish the values of European modernity – not only in external relations, but also in its own educational and discourse spheres. Only from such a discourse can the power be gained to integrate the respective counterpart into a common discourse;
These demands refer to basic cultural structures, to knowledge of the other and of one’s own.
However, without a vision of Europe as a small part of the whole world, it will be shipwrecked. Europe has so far failed to integrate its own history into the European unification process. Against the thesis that Europe has stimulated modernity on a global scale, but is now “on the old side”, I hope that Europe will set itself a goal for 2050 and define what part it wants to play in the world.
Instead of equating itself with the concept of the “West”, Europe must limit itself and contain its internal rivalries. At the same time, however, we must abandon the idea that one must always have hegemony. This vision of world domination, which is deeply rooted in monotheistic concepts of God, may have boosted Europe’s successes in recent centuries, but if it is not broken, it will only bring us closer to the self-abolition of humanity. Because the West is already everywhere today. Europe’s future lies in the realization of its intellectual traditions in the broadest sense and in overcoming the obsession with hegemony, which is mainly maintained in order to cover up internal tensions.
Because all the signs indicate that it is in the interests of both the USA and China for Europe to regain its internal stability, the chances of the EU developing further are good, despite the many unfinished tasks. However, there must be a new understanding within Europe about the other world zones as well as about its own intellectual traditions, from which an international, but also an inner-European discussion is fed. To this end, it would make sense for the respective EU Council presidents to speak to all Europeans with the aim of an inclusive overall address. It is precisely because Europe is currently largely speechless that such speeches must be held again and again! But to be able to conceive itself in a global setting knowledge of other cultural traditions including China’s past is one of crucial prerequisites. This may enable Europe to learn from China’s road to modernity.
