The Chinese Dragon and the Russian Bear as guests of the Finnish Swan

The opening was not for a conspirators' congress, nor a performance at the 'theater of the absurd'. Instead, this was the 11th annual Aleksanteri Conference at the University of Helsinki's Aleksanteri Institute.

The Aleksanteri Institute is a Finnish national center dedicated to Russia-related issues and the theme of the conference was “The Dragon and the Bear: Strategic Choices of China and Russia”.

The traditionally Russian melody was playing to the tune of Chinese music, which might seem quite remarkable to some. On one hand, it affirms China as one of the most important players in the modern geopolitical game, as political and economic changes in China radiate even to the other side of the globe.

On the other hand, by providing a platform for such discussions, Finland is displaying its unique role as a bridge 'connecting people' from Russia and the EU and even expanding to the Far East.

China as an object of research

At the opening ceremony, Erkki Tuomioja, Finnish minister of Foreign Affairs, underlined in his speech: “Lowering cultural and language barriers is a long-term investment in our quest to advance partnerships between the EU and China and Russia. We do our best to lower those barriers both towards China and Russia”.

Director of the Aleksanteri Institute, Professor Markku Kivinen also stressed the novelty of this research and the international significance of the conference. Up until quite recently, post-Cold War developments in Russia and China from a comparative perspective remained terra incognita for the academic community.

However, due to totally different outcomes of Chinese and Russian reforms over the last two decades, it is important to study the reasons behind these phenomena and forecast future developments in geopolitics, the global economy and stability.

A participant list of over 200 experts representing academic communities from Europe, Russia and China, provides ample evidence of the support for the Aleksanteri Institute's initiative.

Representatives presented their respective views and positions concerning Russia and China's transformations in social, economic, political, and international spheres by means of 22 panels, two round tables, and two plenary sessions. Many discussions took place covering topics ranging from history, geopolitics, changing ideologies, economic relations to energy governance challenges.

Different countries, similar attitudes

The common consensus of Russian scholars was presented at the opening plenary session in the lecture “Chinese Model after the Global Financial Crisis” held by Dr Alexandre V. Lomanov, Chief Research Fellow from the Institute of Far Eastern Studies, at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Among other issues, Lomanov said that in recent years, China's self-understanding has radically changed. The global financial crisis has demonstrated that the modernized Chinese system is capable of making fast and adequate decisions which has “served as an extra argument in attempts to prove that borrowing the Western political model, with inter-party rivalry and pursuit of short-term election goals, would bring no benefits for China's development.”

Chinese perspectives somewhat resonated with the idea that “China builds neither socialism nor capitalism, but only gives the world an example how to get a success.” Professor Minxin Pei, Director of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at Claremont McKenna College, said in his lecture, “From Communism to Autocratic Crony Capitalism: Lessons from the Transitions in China and Russia”, at the closing plenary ceremony, that the liberal Western world does not understand the special role of the Communist Party in China.

In his opinion, Marxism or communism as the ideology is not the main propelling force in China. The professor used the concept of “crony capitalism” to depict the main characteristic of modern China. The party exercises control over the country's economy and ensures their power by dividing the economic benefits. More freedom in private life goes hand-in-hand with tighter political control, for example, on the internet, which safeguards State authority.

Nevertheless, the Chinese professor is confident that “the pre-transition balance of power between the State and the Society, nationalist ideologies, and the inherent difficulty in establishing functioning market institutions in elite-dominated political systems make transitions from communism to crony capitalism very likely.”

Communist China as a thing of the past?

The concept of modern China as a highly heterogeneous country became one of the main messages that the Chinese researchers aimed to deliver to their Western colleagues. According to Dr Yang Cheng, Deputy Director of the Center for Russian Studies, at Shanghai's East China Normal University, “The question is not about the Party's control. Nowadays a lot of different points of view are presented in Chinese society. Thus, the main challenge for the CPC is to find in some sense a “golden mean” to achieve a consensus within the society.”

In fact, this strategy is closely connected with Confucius' “The Doctrine of the Mean” which states that “the superior man's embodying the course of the Mean is because he is a superior man, and so always maintains the Mean.”

For Dr Yang Cheng, the biggest disagreement is caused by the widespread Western stereotype of China as a communist state. It appears to him, that this is a fossil from the past.

In today’s China, official rhetoric coexists with others channels of information. The concept of the Harmonious Society is promoted as the ultimate result of the ideology of the Scientific Development Concept. It is based on universal values, not on the communist postulates.

“This is the essence of modern China. And for us, for the Chinese, it is the question of our mentality to retain the succession of our traditions. Transformation doesn't mean destruction”, concluded Dr Yang Cheng.

Great expectations

The already colorful palette of views about what is 'modern China', was brightened by “The Dancing Nomads”. This was the presentation by Christopher Mott from the University of St Andrews, UK, discussing geopolitical aims and strategies of Russia and China as separate forces, as forces directed against each other and as forces banded together on a common ground.

It is difficult to say whether China and Russia 'in flux' have became more transparent for Europe 'in crisis' after the conference's debates in Helsinki.

However, the Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs is sure that “global challenges we are facing cannot be solved without the intellectual contribution from the academic community”, and this gives us great expectations for a successful future.

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The joke about “Sino-Finnish border” was used as the title of the presentation made by Anais Marin from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, and was devoted to sub-regional integration.

Additionally, a well-known phrase from Kipling's “East is East, and West is West…” became the title for the round table discussion about business cultures of China and Russia. It seems that the academic community does have a good sense of humor after all.