How Carl Schmitt Shaped China’s Future?

Born in 1888, Schmitt was a German political theorist who lived through World War I, the Weimar Republic, and the rise of the Nazis. He’s most famous — and infamous — for becoming the so-called ‘crown jurist of the Third Reich’ (Mehring 2014). His ideas are controversial, yet enduring.

Schmitt asked unsettling but fundamental questions: What is politics? Who decides in times of crisis? What does sovereignty really mean?

Now, why should we care in 2025? Because these same ideas, once rooted in 20th-century Germany, have found fresh life in China’s politics (中国政治, Zhōngguó Zhèngzhì)** today. They shape how we understand Xi Jinping (习近平, Xí Jìnpíng), the Belt and Road Initiative (一带一路, Yīdài Yīlù), and the evolving doctrine of Marxism with Chinese Characteristics (中国特色社会主义, Zhōngguó Tèsè Shèhuìzhǔyì)** (Zhang 2016; Cho and Thompson 2022).”

Time Codes
00:00 - Carl Schmitt
01:11 - Part 1: Schmitt’s Core Ideas
02:14 - Part 2: Schmitt Enters China
02:56 - Part 3: Schmitt and Xi Jinping’s China
04:22 - Part 4: Critiques and Tensions
05:04 - Part 5: Future Predictions + Comparative Observation
07:56 - References

References

-Brady, Anne-Marie. 2017. China’s Thought Management. Journal of Democracy 28(3): 51–65.
-Brautigam, Deborah. 2020. *A Critical Look at Chinese ‘Debt-Trap Diplomacy’*. Johns Hopkins SAIS China Africa Research Initiative.
-Callahan, William A. 2018. “National Insecurities: Humiliation, Salvation, and Chinese Nationalism.” *Alternatives* 43(3): 142–164.
-Cho, Young Nam, and Mark R. Thompson. 2022. *Schmitt in Beijing: Sovereignty and the Political in China’s Rise*. London: Routledge.
-He, Weifang (贺卫方). 2010. 《中国法治的困境》 \[The Predicament of Rule of Law in China]. 北京: 三联书店.
-Jones, Lee, and Jinghan Zeng. 2019. “Understanding China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’: Beyond ‘Grand Strategy’ to a State Transformation Analysis.” *Third World Quarterly* 40(8): 1415–1439.
-Liu, Xiaofeng (刘小枫). 2006. 《施密特政治神学》 \[Schmitt’s Political Theology]. 上海: 华夏出版社.
-Mehring, Reinhard. 2014. *Carl Schmitt: A Biography*. Cambridge: Polity.
Qiang, Shigong (强世功). 2012. 《宪法与政治》 \[Constitution and Politics]. 北京: 法律出版社.
-Restad, Hilde Eliassen. 2014. *American Exceptionalism: An Idea that Made a Nation and Remade the World*. London: Routledge. Rubenstein, David. 2019. “Emergency Powers and the Trump Presidency.” *Emory Law Journal* 68(3): 1–39.
-Schmitt, Carl. 1996 \[1932]. *The Concept of the Political*. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
-Schmitt, Carl. 2005 \[1922]. *Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty*. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
-Schmitt, Carl. 2011 \[1939]. Writings on War. Cambridge: Polity.
-Xi, Jinping (习近平). 2014. “坚持总体国家安全观.” \[Uphold the Comprehensive National Security Concept]. Qiushi Journal*.
-Xi, Jinping (习近平). 2019. “在中央党校中青年干部培训班开班式上的讲话.” \[Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Training Program for Young and Middle-aged Cadres at the Central Party School]. *People’s Daily*.
-Zhang, Chenchen. 2016. “Carl Schmitt in China.” *Positions: Asia Critique* 24(1): 1–28.
王沪宁. 1991. 《政治的人生》 \[The Life of Politics]. 上海: 复旦大学出版社.

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