Low Trust Societies

Roger Berkowitz
Alexander Beiner interviews N.S. Lyons about the impact of the Russian war in Ukraine on Russia, the West, and China. At one point, Beiner asks, “To what extent is Chinese culture and politics truly collectivist in its outlook?” Lyons, an expert on China in the U.S. Foreign Policy establishment, answers: 
 

N.S.: I think this idea may confuse more than it reveals in this case. Chinese culture today is not collectivist. It used to be collectivist, but that was all smashed by the trauma of communism. I wouldn’t say it is especially individualistic either, but China is today a very low trust society, which is the case in almost every country that has endured communism. People look out for their families, and then themselves, above all else, and see their agency to do more than that as limited. 
The Chinese also, in my mind, tend to be among the most commercial and entrepreneurial people on the planet – making them rather similar to Americans. Plus the younger generation has also become far, far more individualistic than their parents’ as modern Western culture has begun spread to China just like it has around the world. This really worries the leadership of the CCP – after all they want their country to be educated, industrialized, and rich, but if they become Westernized then maybe they’ll want democracy next… I don’t want to overemphasize how similar China is to the West, though, as in some ways it’s very different. The Chinese sense of national identity (indeed nationalism) is very strong, for example; there is no wavering there about China being an exceptional nation with a manifest destiny to fulfill.