CCP elite perception of the US since the early 1990s : Wang Huning and Zheng Bijian as test cases

Scholars of Sino-American relations basically employ two methods to reveal indirectly Chinese policymakers’ perceptions of the US. First, some scholars make use of public opinion polls which survey the general public’s attitudes towards the US, with Alastair Lain Johnston and Mingming Shen’s monograph titled Perception and Misperception in American and Chinese Views of the Other as the latest example.3 It is noteworthy that David Lampton also uses public opinion polls to illuminate security-relevant perceptions in Sino-American relations.4 Second, there are nowadays more Western scholars who study China’s ‘America watchers’ and their perceptions of the US by making use of interviews and/or textual analysis of their writings. The America watchers on whom they focus include academics in Chinese Universities, journalists and policy analysts in government and government-affiliated research institutions. What makes this article distinct from previous research is that it juxtaposes two of the most influential yet under-studied America watchers within the top echelon of the CCP, Wang Huning and Zheng Bijian. To be sure, the two have indelibly shaped CCP attitudes, yet surprisingly enough, although Zheng has been written about extensively in the English language, Wang has hitherto largely remained outside the purview of academics. This article also aims, in passing, to explore linkages between the ideas of Wang and Zheng and those of other wellknown America watchers like Liu Mingfu and Yan Xuetong. It is hoped that this comparison will offer clues as to the extent to which the current advisors shaping CCP thinking on the US differ from the previous generation, and as to whether CCP thinking is un-American or anti-American in essence. The conclusions will tie the study together by speculating based on Wang’s and Zheng’s views about the degree to which New Confucianism, as opposed to Neo-Liberalism, might shape Chinese society in the future.