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The Oxford Consensus

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

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