Time: June 21st, 2013 Topic: China’s Social Thoughts and Their Interaction with the International Academia Lecturer: YANG Fan Commentators: ZHU Jingwen, CAO Siyuan, CHEN Ziming, LI Weidong In this session, Professor YANG Fan introduced the standards, logical structure, and classification of contemporary Chinese school of thoughts. He further analyzed the misplacement and distortion of Chinese school of thoughts than those of the west. He illustrated the development of the left and right, and their impact on the society. He proposed that the academia and the society should reconsider the relationship between the left and the right and, therefore, discuss and encourage a health debate between them, which could lead to better development of the schools of thoughts. Professor CAO Siyuan thought Professor YANG’s research is very helpful. He thought suppression from the authorities greatly distorted the development of the academia by referring to historic experiences of contemporary China and the former Soviet Union. He also believed that the reforms in institutional structure of property rights could lead to development and breakthroughs in the sphere of public speech and the academia. Professor CHEN Ziming thought a reconciliation could be reached by the left and the right under the constitutional democratic scheme, which could further promote reforms as both sides form a political coalition. He further illustrated the distinction between different branches of the Maoists, and suggested only the leftist and the rightest Maoists were the enemy of constitutionalism, and the different between Maoists and Non-Maoists should not be over emphasized. Professor ZHU Jingwen thought polity was a bigger issue compared to constitutionalism. He analyzed the major opinions online on constitutionalism and thought the socialist constitutionalism was the mainstream. He introduced the development of western constitutional thoughts and believed some of our understanding was partial. He saw the misfit of western institutions on China and said there had got to be trial and error before China formed its own institution. Professor LI Weidong thought there was a close link between thoughts and social movements. He believed the official thoughts was to hold on to the national socialist path and he further demonstrated the cause and benefits. He concluded that this path was not leading anywhere because it was logically wrong.
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