陈定定：要读懂中国，这三家智库你不能不知道

领导说，这篇文章下方的评论对我们很重要，是极其珍贵的反馈，值得网站每位编辑认真阅读、反思，有则改之无则加勉，想个办法多放一会儿，继续听取读者们的意见。

（设计台词：员工的错别字也已困扰我多年了……）

【智库对提高国家决策科学化水平和提升国家软实力有巨大的积极作用。因而近年来，建设中国特色新型智库被提升到了战略高度。中国打造软实力不再单纯依靠输出传统文化，还开始着眼于建立健全更加独立、更加多元、更加科学的决策咨询制度。日本媒体《外交学者》刊登澳门大学助理教授陈定定文章，盘点三家值得关注的中国新型智库，观察者网翻译。】

在过去30年里，中国的硬实力有了巨大的提升，但许多人认为中国的软实力仍十分有限。这在某种程度上的确是事实。当代中国思想家很少提出伟大的思想，连“软实力”这个词也是美国人发明的。中国领导人对软实力不足的情况看得很清楚，这也是近年来中国政府通过孔子学院等机构向外推广中国软实力的部分原因。然而，这种努力迄今取得的效果并不完全令人满意，外国人总体上仍对中国的价值观和思想持怀疑态度，部分原因在于外国人多倾向于将政府的努力看作一种政治宣传。

中国政府意识到了这种情况，在2013年十八届三中全会后，号召以新方法发展软实力，即强调独立智库在产生新思想和提升中国软实力方面的独特作用。清华大学国情研究院院长胡鞍钢认为，在新型智库的助力下，中国将“在世界舞台上更加鲜明地展现‘中国思想’，响亮地提出‘中国主张’，及时地发出‘中国声音’。”在更高层面上，中国智库能对实现“中国梦”做出巨大贡献。可以说，中国智库的春天已经到来，未来他们将在政府决策方面发挥积极影响作用，为中国软实力工程添砖加瓦。

具体而言，中国政府尤其重视发展一类新型智库，它们不同于那些主要靠政府提供财力人力资助的传统智库。这些新型智库吸收借鉴了美国智库的经验，由中国民间私人创办，所以在发表意见上具有绝对自主权，甚至可能发出不同于官方的声音。这终究是一件好事，因为中国太大、太复杂，即使政府也不可能做到面面俱到。

一批新型智库脱颖而出，并迅速活跃在政府治理和国际关系等领域，提出了新思想、新见解。就活跃度和影响力而言，三家智库表现得尤为突出，它们分别是：春秋发展战略研究院、中国与全球化智库和中国人民大学重阳金融研究院。

春秋发展战略研究院正式成立于2014年，由著名知识分子李世默发起。近年来，李世默以他在TED全球大会上的演讲和对西方民主的批评而广受关注。春秋研究院还创办了人气极高的“观察者网”，后者立场偏向中国左派，但也兼容并蓄地发出自由主义声音。该网站发挥着凝聚中国左右两派共识的作用，期望能为中国的发展与治理提出有益的思想。

与春秋研究院相比，中国与全球化智库的立场比较偏右，其领衔者为另一位著名知识分子王辉耀。与李世默的经历相似，王辉耀也在海外生活多年，在取得MBA学位后，他曾在跨国公司工作。回国之后，他创办了中国与全球化智库，其主要研究方向之一是“海归”人才，即有多年海外留学和工作经历并回国发展的中国人。2015年年初，美国宾夕法尼亚大学发布的《全球智库报告》将中国与全球化智库排在中国大陆民间智库的第3位。

2013年，重阳投资董事长裘国根慷慨解囊，向母校人民大学捐赠2亿人民币，帮助成立了中国人民大学重阳金融研究院。该智库的研究重点虽然是金融，但其开展活动和项目的范围实际上要宽得多，包括全球治理、安全研究等方面。人大重阳的执行院长王文也是位著名的知识分子，曾任民族主义报纸《环球时报》编委。与中国与全球化智库相似，人大重阳在《全球智库报告》的中国高校智库排行榜上位列三甲。

总之，外界应当对中国的新一代智库给予关注。它们具有极大的独立性，高度代表了中国社会上各种不同的利益群体。这些智库本身有力地证明了中国正在迈向多元化社会。毫无疑问，这个趋势将在未来进一步深化。如果外界想要影响中国社会和政治发展的走向，倾听这些智库的声音将是明智之举。

（观察者网杨晗轶译自日本《外交学者》网站，翻页查看英文原文）

The Rise of China’s New Soft Power

By Dingding Chen

It is widely believed that although China’s hard power has increased tremendously in the last three decades, China’s soft power is still very limited. To some degree this is true. Very few big ideas come from Chinese thinkers; even the term ‘soft power’ itself is an American invention. Chinese leaders are well aware of this situation, and this is partly why the Chinese government in recent years has tried to promote China’s soft power through institutions like the Confucius Institutes and so on. The results, so far, have been mixed, as foreigners in general are still skeptical about China’s own values and ideas. Part of the problem is that foreigners tend to view governmental efforts as pure propaganda.

Realizing this situation, the Chinese government has, since the third plenum of the 18th Party’s Congress in 2013, called for a new approach to soft power, one that emphasizes the unique role of independent think tanks in generating new ideas and enhancing China’s soft power.  Thus, the Dean of Institute for National Condition Studies at Tsinghua University, Professor Hu Angang, argued that China’s think tanks could help showcase Chinese thought, Chinese positions, and Chinese voices at the international stage. Ultimately, China’s think tanks can make big contributions to the realization of the ‘Chinese Dream.’ It is safe to say that now it is springtime for China’s think tanks to influence government policies and enhance China’s soft power.

In particular, the Chinese government has emphasized on a new type of think tank, one that is different from traditional think tanks that largely depend on government for funding and personnel. Trying to learn from U.S. experiences, this new type of think tank is established by private individuals from within Chinese society, thus giving them full autonomy in voicing their opinions that sometimes might clash with the government’s voice. Ultimately this is a good thing because China is much too large and complex, even for the government to understand it very well.

Very quickly, a generation of these new types of think tanks burst into existence and now play an active role in creating new ideas of governance and international relations. Three think tanks stand out due to their activities and influence: the Chunqiu Research Institute, the Center for China and Globalization Studies, and the Chongyang Institute of Financial Studies at Renmin University.

The Chunqiu Research Institute was established in 2014 and is now led by well-known public intellectual Eric Li, who has become famously in recent years for his TED talk and critical comments on Western democracy. The Chunqiu Institute has also created a very popular website named “Observers” that leans toward China’s leftist forces, though some liberal voices are also active on the website. So the website plays the role of integrating voices from the right and the left in China, hoping to provide useful ideas of governance to influence China’s development.

In contrast, there is the right-leaning think tank, the Center for China and Globalization Studies, led by another well-known public intellectual Wang Huiyao. Like Li, Wang also spent many years in overseas, acquiring an MBA and then working for a multinational company before finally returning to China to start a think tank. One major research task of Wang’s think tank is about the so called ‘sea turtles’: people coming back to China after many years of study or work in foreign countries. In early 2015, the Center for China and Globalization Studies was named one of the top three private think tanks in China.

Finally, there is the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University. This one was established in 2013, with a generous donation of 200 million Renminbi (about $33 million) from a private business man named Qiu Guogeng. Although the Institute’s main focus seems to be on financial research, its activities and projects are actually much wider in reality, including global governance, security studies, and so on. The leader of the Chongyang Institute is Wang Wen, another public intellectual who is famous for his previous commentaries in the nationalistic Global Times. Like the CCGS, Chongyang has quickly become a top three research think tanks in China.

To conclude, it is important for outsiders to pay attention to this new generation of think tanks in China. They are largely independent and very much represent different groups of interests in Chinese society. This is the strongest evidence that China is indeed moving toward a pluralistic society. Undoubtedly, this trend will only continue and strengthen in the future. If outsiders want to shape China’s future social and political developments, it would be wise to hear such voices.