The Curious Case of China’s Conservative Streak

hy are Western conservative thinkers so popular in China? One would expect them to be shunned and universally opposed. After all, China is ruled by a Leninist party-state, a device for ruthless revolutionary transformation, and arguably the most anti-conservative form of political organization in human history. Also, China’s leading political-philosophical traditions—New Confucianism and socialism with Chinese characteristics—do not overlap with Western conservative canons. Nevertheless, Chinese intellectuals are surprisingly enthusiastic about Western conservative authors and viewpoints. Samuel Huntington and Leo Strauss enjoy star status, and Chinese interpretations of American politics often parallel those of American conservatives. These likes and dislikes undoubtedly have all kinds of causes, which cannot possibly all be disentangled here. But I will argue that one such cause is a profound philosophical affinity: a strong sense of society’s integral cultural holism.

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