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More shocking to me, Professor Fang seriously calls for not taking foreign lessons seriously.He insists that taking them seriously would unexceptionally result in “a major disaster.”
]I would rather believe that Professor Fang adopts a very different definition of “taking foreign lessons seriously” from mine.
In my opinion, taking foreign solutions seriously does not mean accepting or rejecting them in entirety.It means deliberately researching their necessity, possibility, feasibility, and applicability.Chinese people have experienced many disasters when we adopted some foreign suggestions without deliberate consideration.China also missed many historic opportunities when we shut the door to foreign inspiration.In these two cases, foreign lessons were taken thoughtlessly, not seriously.It is hard to find any disaster caused by taking foreign lessons seriously.Probably Professor Fang can find one.
In my view, Professor Fang’s article raised a question worth of thinking by all Chinese intellectuals: how should we use our limited time and energy to respond effectively to foreign criticism and pressure?On the foreigners’ side, it is important for them to understand their Chinese audience before they give speeches.For example, it is meaningless, and maybe even purpose-defeating, for foreigners to argue for fundamental rights before Communist bureaucrats.But when facing frank and direct criticism from the so-called outsiders, it is also unnecessary for Chinese intellectuals to overreact and even doubt their morality.If we Chinese scholars can use our energy and time spent on questioning the moral and rational foundation of foreign lessons on reading, thinking and learning their substantive contents, I believe that we will achieve more.
References
1. Dworkin, Ronald.“Taking Rights Seriously in Beijing.”The New York Review of Books, September 26, 2002, pp.64-67. Available at http://www.oycf.org/Perspectives/19_123102/takingRights.htm (last visited on March 11, 2003).
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