Neoconservatism (China)

In the People's Republic of China, neoconservatism is a movement which started in the early 1990s which argues that social progress is best accomplished through gradual reform of society, and which eschews revolution and sudden overthrow of governmental system. This movement is based heavily on the ideas of Edmund Burke and has been described in the West by the scholar Joseph Fewsmith. Other than the name, the movement has no connection with neoconservatism in the United States.

The neoconservative movement in China is in general supportive of the current government, while at the same time being opposed to revolutionary aspects of the government. Unlike the official ideology, Chinese neoconservatism is neutral on the validity of Marxism and skeptical toward Mao Zedong.

Seen from a Chinese neoconservative perspective, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Protests of 1989 were all in error in that they attempted to change society through revolutionary means.