The debate over universal values
It is not quite true that China is rejecting Western values such as democracy. Rather, it is fighting over them
ON JULY 19th the graduates of one of China's leading business schools settled down in their academic finery to listen to a farewell address by Qin Xiao, the chairman of a state-owned bank. They little expected what they were about to hear. Instead of rallying them to further the cause of China's socialist modernisation, Mr Qin urged them to resist the lure of worldly things and to pursue “universal values” such as freedom and democracy.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "The debate over universal values"
From the October 2nd 2010 edition
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