An article by Chinese Culture Minister Sun Jiazheng was published today on the front page of the People’s Daily Overseas Edition.  Its title: "Sino-US exchange requires communication of heart."  The use of the term "heart" is what jumped out at me. 

    The notion of "heart" is at the center of Mencius’s understanding of human nature and everything that follows from that.  The term was, however, being deployed in the article in  defense of Chinese national interests, something that Mencius might hesitate to do.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that, were Mencius to read and comment on this piece, he might agree that all human relations, international relations included, rely upon "heart," but that before the Chinese government should invoke this idea in connection to Sino-US trade policy (the purpose of the article), the Communist Party leadership should examine how well they are acting with heart-felt compassion and respect toward their own people, especially those in Taishi village, who have been struggling to legally and democratically take control of their local government but who have been stiffly repressed.

     Here is a passage from Mencius that explicates his idea of "heart:"

    Mencius said: "Everyone has a heart the can’t bear to see others suffer.  The ancient emperors had hearts that couldn’t bear to see others suffer, and so had governments that couldn’t bear to see others suffer.  If you lead a government that can’t bear to see others suffer, ruling all beneath Heaven is like turning it in the palm of your hand.
   "Suddenly seeing a baby about to fall in a well, anyone would be heart-stricken with pity: heart-stricken not because they wanted to curry favor with the baby’s parents, not because they wanted the praise of neighbors and friends, and not because they hated the baby’s cries.  This is why I say everyone has a heart that can’t bear to see others suffer." (55)

     This is the cultural-philosophical connotation of the term "heart," which Minister Sun means to extend to China’s trade policy with the US.  In essence, he is saying that, just like the universal heart-warming humanity that might be realized, even if for a fleeting moment, at a powerful theatrical performance, political leaders in different countries should strive to settled their differences based on mutual respect and benefit.

    This all sounds nice, but it is a disservice to Mencius.

    If there are conflicts over things like trade policy, Mencius would, I believe, suggest that the problem lies not in interaction between the countries involved, but within each of the countries themselves.  Notice how he says that the ancients had "heart," and, therefore, had "governments that could not bear to see people suffer."  Can we really say that the US and Chinese governments are doing all that they can to address the suffering of the people within their respective countries?

    Hurricane Katrina revealed the stark reality of poverty in the US but the prospects for addressing the underlying problems seem to be diminishing.   Economic inequality is growing in the US and, I believe, Mencius would say that American leaders should address those issues before they complain about the value of the Chinese Yuan.  (Of course, under conditions of globalization the domestic and the foreign are inextricably linked, but Mencius’s emphasis on the domestic is still relevant here.  Instead of trying to manipulate external forces, the US should be working harder to manage domestic adjustments to shifting global economic circumstances: that would be the Mencian approach).

    On the Chinese side, the contradiction is plain to see.  Minister Sun is calling on US trade negotiators to have more heart in their dealings with China (yes, yes, the Damn Yankees tune, "You’ve gotta have heart" is running through my head, too) but, just yesterday, Chinese police were beating up activists in Taishi.  This struggle, which has been unfolding for months and deserves more coverage in the US press, is just another reminder of the Communist Party’s obsession with holding on to as much political power as possible, however heartless their actions might become.   A time line of events there can be found at the blog EastSouthWestNorth.

    Clearly, the Chinese government has much soul-searching and self-improvement to do before they can invoke the notion of "heart" in their dealings with other countries.