ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I attempt to look at the Chinese way of organizing its international order. In doing so, I rely heavily on the writings of Wang Gungwu. As a historian, he has written on a wide range of topics such as empire, nation-states, nationalism, state ideology, the Chinese view of the world order, and religions in world politics. As far as I understand, he is among a few pioneering scholars who have examined China’s international relations from the larger idea of civilization. He knows what a scientific explanation means. While most scholars are ready to apply concepts and theories which were developed out of Western experiences, more often than not, such an application leads to a distortion of the “Chinese way” of international behavior, instead of providing a scientific explanation. Wang has been very critical of applying a concept or a theory based on Western experience to non-Western contexts – including China. I believe that there is a distinction between a scientific approach and a concept/theory generated by that approach. Unlike many scholars in the West, Wang has not published a book specifically on scientific methods of research; the scientific-ness of his research is embedded in his way of thinking, and in all his writings. While Wang focuses on the scientific approach itself, many scholars tend to apply the concept/theory that the approach has produced. In other words, Wang has developed a very sophisticated way of using scientific approaches to explain China and other Asian societies. Therefore, in explaining and predicting China’s international behavior, one has to place China in its own historical, cultural, political and geographical context. Like Western IR concepts and theories which are deeply embedded in the historical experiences of the West, Chinese IR concepts and theories must be drawn from China’s own political and historical culture.1
