Interview with He Xin (Volume 1) Thinking: My Philosophy and Religious Views

Author: He Xin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-05-01
Features: Among the intellectuals in China today, He Xin is undoubtedly the most controversial and legendary figure. Over the years, he has proposed many new theories, one of the most influential being his long article titled "World Economic Situation and China's Economic Problems," published in the People's Daily on December 11, 1990. Many of his writings have been sent to the highest leadership and have received widespread attention. He Xin did not complete his university education, but he was appointed as a researcher by the prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Although he is not a Communist Party member, he adheres to Marxist methodology in his theoretical approach.
He Xin was born on December 12, 1949, in Cangnan, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, and moved to Beijing with his father at the age of five. He spent nine years in the Northeast Reform Through Labor (Northeastern Reclamation), where he engaged in various occupations. He worked as a farmer, a foundry worker, and was labeled as a counter-revolutionary for writing letters opposing the Cultural Revolution, enduring public criticism and imprisonment. A particularly dramatic experience during this period was in 1970, when he wandered in Beijing for a year. His goal was to access the newly reopened Beijing Library to read books. During this year of wandering, he often survived on two steamed buns and a bowl of tofu soup per day, sheltering in underground air-raid shelters. Yet in the library's reading room, he studied the works of Marx and Engels, Hegel, and the aesthetic writings of the Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce, as well as the political theories of the Yugoslav intellectual Milovan ?ilas.
After 1975, he became a teacher in a small county called Youyi in Heilongjiang Province. In 1977, with the resumption of the college entrance exams, he was admitted to a university in Heilongjiang but withdrew after less than a year, returning to Beijing. He believed that he no longer needed to spend four years in university to obtain a diploma, and fate proved his confidence correct. In 1979, he was hired as a part-time teacher at the Central University of Finance and Economics, teaching ancient Chinese and ancient financial literature. A year later, he joined the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), first as a secretary in the research bureau. Due to the publication of several influential papers, he attracted academic attention. In 1981, he was appointed as an assistant to the historian Li Shu. After 1982, he began independent research work,、、，（1985），（1987），（1990）。 These titles were granted exceptionally by the Academic Committee of the CASS in recognition of his outstanding academic performance.
In 1991, He Xin joined the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) as a special consultant. In addition to dedicating himself to research in history, archaeology, linguistics, and mythology, he closely monitored pressing issues related to China's national development, ethnic survival, and urgent economic, political, and international relations. He regularly submitted reports with his research findings directly to the leadership of the Party and State.
In the fall of 1990, he was invited by the renowned Japanese figure Tatsukichi Deguchi to visit Japan, where he met Kiyoshi Komei, a senator who later became the Prime Minister of Japan. Upon his return, he reported to the highest leadership on Japan's policy toward China. In a research report written after his visit, he was among the first in China to reveal the division and rise of the world's three major monetary blocs (the U.S. dollar, Deutsche Mark, and Japanese Yen zones).
In March 1992, he was invited by the Cuba-Asia-Pacific Research Center and Ambassador to China, Mr., to visit Cuba. Fidel Castro personally arranged a meeting with him, invited him for dinner, and conducted an unprecedented nine-hour conversation with him in the company of the Chinese ambassador. Upon his return, he made an objective report to the central leadership on Cuba's economic, political, and social situation, proposing recommendations for aid and trade. Castro had hoped to appoint him as the director of the Asia-Pacific Research Center in Cuba.
In 1993, under the special arrangement of Fuji Television in Japan, He Xin was invited to Beijing for a joint interview with the American futurist Alvin Toffler. In the dialogue with Toffler, He Xin presented his predictions and perspectives on the future of humanity in the 21st century and the challenges it would face.
With his exceptional talent and unique insights, He Xin established a special position in China's academic circles. In 1987, he predicted that the Soviet reforms would inevitably fail and the country would disintegrate. In 1990, during a conversation with a Japanese professor, he pointed out that China's main economic problem was not "demand exceeding supply" but rather overproduction. In 1993, he submitted a memorial to Deng Xiaoping and the central leadership, warning that the overheated real estate sector could become a "bubble economy." His view that "the human rights of developing countries are primarily the right to subsistence, survival, and development" was widely adopted and became a weapon in China's response to U.S. human rights criticism. Many of his economic views, closely tied to reality and practical in application, profoundly influenced national decision-making.
Due to his significant influence, He Xin became a target of pursuit by major domestic and international news outlets. Those who have interviewed him include Associated Press (AP), The New York Times, Kyodo News, ABC, NHK, Voice of America (VOA), Reuters, The Independent, and Le Figaro. After 1994, He Xin devoted himself to research and writing, refusing direct contact with both domestic and foreign media. He also stopped attending public meetings, lectures, and speeches, withdrawing from public view.