The logic behind China's anti-corruption drive

The arrest of former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang on corruption charges has been received with widespread scepticism in the West. magazine called it a "purge" and the US government implied that it is politically motivated, perhaps on a par with Stalin's purge in the 1930s.

This argument is bordering on the absurd. But the fact that Western policymakers fail to comprehend what is going on in China is not surprising, given their cultural and historical prejudices, even as the largest anti-corruption campaign in the history of the People's Republic unfolds before our eyes. During recent visits to the US, Europe and Latin America, I was often confronted with questions about the "true" motivation of the anti-corruption campaign from many who had already formed views about a "purge".

My answer always began with the fundamental question: "What is politics"? In the Western tradition, politics is always associated with power distribution in a specified space. The idea of separation of powers derived, above all, from this spatial conception of politics. Traditional Chinese political philosophy, represented by Confucianism, defines politics as a moral issue anchored to time: ruling by virtuous example is the foundation of social stability. If any ruling power misbehaves, it will lose the "mandate of heaven", and that would automatically justify a popular rebellion for regime change.

Thus, Beijing sees the anti-corruption campaign as an operation to restore the badly damaged political legitimacy of a Confucian state. To call it a Stalinist purge is way off the mark.

The scale of official and systematic corruption is alarming, and leaders must handle it with caution and skill to avoid triggering popular resentment against the regime. It seems the leaders have adopted a smart strategy, with minimal disturbance to the system that won't necessarily result in the immediate improvement of society's well-being. The focus is squarely on the cultural problem of the mandarin elite, based on the classical story line of the erosion of Confucian morality.

Leaders are wont to talk about everything that is "new" these days; the "new status quo", "new economy", or "new Asian security architecture". But the most interesting is the "new normal".

This term was invented in the West, referring to economic conditions following the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The term has since been used in a variety of other contexts to imply that something which was previously abnormal has become commonplace.