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China and Global
Governance
A New Leader?
Peng Bo
International Political Economy Series
Series Editor
Timothy M. Shaw , University of Massachusetts Boston,
Boston, USA;
Emeritus Professor, University of London, London, UK
The global political economy is in flux as a series of cumulative crises
impacts its organization and governance. The IPE series has tracked its
development in both analysis and structure over the last three decades.
It has always had a concentration on the global South. Now the South
increasingly challenges the North as the centre of development, also
reflected in a growing number of submissions and publications on
indebted Eurozone economies in Southern Europe. An indispensable
resource for scholars and researchers, the series examines a variety of capi-
talisms and connections by focusing on emerging economies, companies
and sectors, debates and policies. It informs diverse policy communities as
the established trans-Atlantic North declines and ’the rest’, especially the
BRICS, rise. NOW INDEXED ON SCOPUS!
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc.
in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such
names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for
general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and informa-
tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither
the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with
respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been
made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps
and institutional affiliations.
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Foreword: China’s Global Leadership
Moment
v
vi FOREWORD: CHINA’S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP MOMENT
Today, the world order is facing two sides of the same coin, with one
side revealing the return of “great power rivalry” characterized by conflicts
and wars, and another side showing “interdependent hegemony” charac-
terized by accommodation and integration. The existing and emerging
powers are intertwined in a constant process of shaping and reshaping
the international order in the nexus of national interest, regional orien-
tation, common political agenda, political alliance, and potential conflict.
Much of Western scholarship tends to focus on the debates among the
different schools of international relations in hypothesizing and theorizing
the binary choice faced by both the existing and rising powers: the former
is struggling to assimilate the latter to the existing order, while the latter
is endeavoring to benefit from challenging and changing the system.
Will China ever be able to fulfill Western expectations, whatever these
maybe? Ever since Napoleon warned the world that it would be better not
to wake the “sleeping giant,” China has been both a source of fascination
and disturbance for the West. Early Western missionaries from Europe and
America failed in their efforts of converting China into a Christian-like
continent. In China’s own history and civilization, it was once conquered
and ruled for centuries by its powerful minority groups such as the Mogols
and the Manchus. They tried to change China’s fundamental character,
but later were themselves changed and Sinicized.
In the past decades, either fascination or irritation with China has
always influenced Western scholarship and journalism, which often
produce abrupt sentiment from excessive approval and unqualified opti-
mism to unwarranted revulsion and deep pessimism. There was a hopeful
projection in most years of the 1980s about China’s economic reform as
the “second Chinese revolution” in leading the country into a Western-
like democracy; then there was deep antagonism toward China’s resis-
tance to political democratization in the aftermath of the Cold War; and
in recent years there have recurrently been either exaggerated predictions
of China’s threatening rise to the superpower status or unwarranted fore-
casts on the “the coming collapse of China” or “the endgame of commu-
nist rule in China.” From time to time Western academics, politicians and
opinion-makers selectively use the flux and reflux of China’s development
trajectory to justify their existing theories and ideologies in categorizing
China either as threat, or opportunity, or collapse, or superpower.
For a long time, the West has been struggling for Chinese hearts and
minds. Will China be a destructive or constructive world power? A status-
quo or a revisionist one? A force for continuity or a force for change?
FOREWORD: CHINA’S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP MOMENT ix
How will China apply its military and economic weight while adhering to
international norms? How to interpret the impact of China’s rise not only
in terms of structural hard power, such as economy, technology, trade,
finance, etc, but also in terms of normative soft power, such as ideas,
culture, thought, value system, scholarship, etc? How can the West under-
stand the kind of international leadership role that China is playing, and
how can the West better comprehend the historical and cultural fabrics
that underpin Chinese foreign policies and behaviors?
In the context of these crucial questions, Peng Bo’s book—China
and Global Governance—A New Leader?—shows a relentless endeavor to
study the relationship between the rise of China and the existing inter-
national order and global governance. One of the book’s unique charac-
ters is the author’s methodological approach—“a China-based interpretive
perspective”—to constructing a conceptual framework of “international
leadership with Chinese characteristics” (ILCC). The conceptual and
analytical framework of the ILCC is built on the combination of a variety
of interconnected components, such as the source of Chinese philosoph-
ical and cultural legacies, the formation of Chinese understanding and
perception of international relations and Chinese contribution to the
process and architecture of global governance.
The innovative contribution of the ILCC framework lies in the author’s
heuristic application of the “relational theory” and its “logic of relation-
ality” concept from which the author redefines the “international lead-
ership” concept (power, interest, and vision). Such a framework helps
readers to understand China’s different international leadership roles, such
as facilitative leadership, constructive leadership, and exemplary leader-
ship, under different situations and in different contexts. Empirically, the
applicability of the ILCC framework is verified by the author, who asso-
ciates China’s international leadership roles with four different situations
and contexts, such as the G20, the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO), and the Belt and Road initiative (BRI).
The publication of this book is of timely importance. Following its
rapid rise in the past four decades, China now finds itself to be a “middle
kingdom” surrounded by jealousy, admiration, anxiety, worry, and even
resentment. Within the near future both China as the rising power and
the West as the existing power will have to find ways to accommodate
each other. In order to do so both will have to go through a consider-
able period of struggle, adjustment and tension. It seems that the current
x FOREWORD: CHINA’S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP MOMENT
Li Xing
Professor and Director
Research Center on Development and International Relations
Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University
Aalborg, Denmark
Preface
xi
xii PREFACE
My book journey has been full of ups and downs throughout the past
years. Without the invaluable encouragement and support of my Ph.D.
supervisor, my family members and colleagues, I can hardly imagine that
I would be able to reach the final destination. Everyone surrounding me
has sustained me with a great deal of understanding, sympathy, patience,
and encouragement throughout the entire process.
First and foremost, I would like to express my special appreciation
to Professor Li Xing for his persistent support during my book writing
by virtue of his patience, stimulus, and inspirational communication. His
conscientious scholarship and disciplinary character have, to a large extent,
encouraged and assisted me throughout the entire writing process.
More important, I would like to express my deep love and thankful-
ness to my family members: my parents, my wife, and my daughter. My
parents have devoted themselves to bringing me up and teaching me how
to become a righteous and hardworking person. My wife and my daughter
have also done a lot to support me emotionally and spiritually during my
writing, especially when I encountered difficulties and hardships.
xv
Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 The Multifaceted Rise of China and Global Governance 1
1.2 The Deficiencies of the Major Western IR Theories 6
1.3 A Culture-Oriented Approach to China’s Role
in Contemporary IR 21
References 25
2 The Concept of ‘International Leadership with Chinese
Characteristics’ 31
2.1 Chinese Political Culture and the Major Features
of Chinese Worldview of IR 31
2.2 Relational Theory in Interpreting the Core Elements
of International Leadership 51
2.3 Three Components of the “International Leadership
with Chinese Characteristics” 72
References 83
3 Empirical Studies of “International Leadership
with Chinese Characteristics” in Global Governance 89
3.1 Role Theory as a Guideline for Empirical Studies 89
3.2 The Selection of Empirical Cases 93
3.3 The Operationalization of Cases: Case Study Materials
and Empirical Methods 100
3.4 A Four-Step Interpretive Process 107
xvii
xviii CONTENTS
8 Conclusion 241
8.1 The Applicability of the ILCC in Interpreting China’s
Role in Global Governance 241
8.2 Reflection of the Major Features of Chinese Worldview
of IR 251
8.3 The Explanatory Limitations of the ILCC 253
References 255
References 257
Index 281
Abbreviations
xxi
List of Figures
xxiii
xxiv LIST OF FIGURES
Introduction
economy, worth $17.6 trillion compared to the United States’ $17.4 tril-
lion (Duncan & David, 2014). In 2015, the IMF added Chinese Yuan
to its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket, with the Yuan having a
10.9% weighting in the basket, which ranks the third position after the
US dollar’s 41.73% and the Euro’s 30.93% (Mayeda, 2015).
Second, China is gradually transforming its diplomatic focus from bilat-
eralism to a combination of bilateralism and multilateralism. In 1996, a
positive transition was observed in China’s diplomatic strategy, signaled
by its first embrace of multilateralism through membership of the Asso-
ciation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Christensen, 2015: 22).
Since then, China has actively participated in the building of a number of
regional multilateral groups and organizations. For example, in the area
of security, China, Russia, and four other Central Asian countries (Kaza-
khstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) co-founded the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2001, aimed at “fighting terrorism
and separatism and reducing mistrust and building confidence among
the members” (Christensen, 2015: 23). During the SCO Astana Summit
of 2017, India and Pakistan became full members of the organization,
“expediting the start of the organization’s historic expansion” (Hantke,
2016). Diplomatic multilateralism is considered by Beijing as a critical
means of reassuring its neighbors that they will benefit from China’s rise.
Last but not least, further evidence of China’s rise can be observed
through China’s increasing interest and participation in the making
of global governance. Due to the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC),
the existing Western-dominated global governance system is seriously
under question and stands at a crossroads. Specifically, Western-based
global governance has experienced four major crises and is undergoing
a process of transformation (Pang, 2013; Tolarová, 2016; Wolfgram,
2011). During this process of transformation, there are clear signs
of “China’s aspiration to play a greater role in global governance as
evidenced by its proactive participation in global institutions and its
endeavors to make its voice heard by the existing powers in the West”
(M. Li, 2012: 6).
In the meanwhile, in addition to the multifaceted rise of China, the
other significant issue, since the beginning of the twenty-first century,
is that the abovementioned US-led international order, underpinned by
its combined political, economic, security, and normative powers, has
faced some rigorous challenges. According to Trine Flockhart and Xing
Li (2010), as shown in Fig. 1.1, these challenges can be abstracted into
“four crises” faced by the liberal world order, as follows:
1 INTRODUCTION 3
Fig. 1.1 The four crises of the US-led international order/global governance
(Source The author’s compilation)
4 P. BO
electricity, 300 million without access to safe drinking water, and about
1.5 billion lacking access to basic sanitation” (Asian Development Bank,
2017). Under these circumstances, China led the establishment of the
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the BRICS New Devel-
opment Bank (NDB), aiming to address the huge funding shortfall in
Asian infrastructure construction and to play a complementary role to
the World Bank and the ADB.
In the third place, the “crisis of legitimacy” of the existing global
governance denotes that the established countries (especially the United
States) failed in their policymaking attempts or to shoulder their respon-
sibility to address the post-crisis development issues and to promote
the world economy. Given the growing influence of populism and
anti-globalization movements, the established countries are inclining to
protect their domestic interests rather than to preserve the outcomes
of globalization. For instance, since Donald Trump was elected as US
president in 2016, his administration has unilaterally withdrawn from a
number of critical treaties and organizations. Between January 2017 and
June 2018, the Trump Administration withdrew from the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP), the Paris Agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, and the
United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). However, in the
meantime, as the largest beneficiary of the existing international order,
China has remained committed to upholding the existing international
order. For instance, in 2017, at the Davos World Economic Forum, Presi-
dent Xi Jinping argued that China is committed to becoming the guardian
of global governance and the open trading system. In addition, against
the backdrop of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement,
China reaffirmed its commitment to this hard-won achievement.
Last but not least, the thesis argues that the previous three crises
led to the “crisis of authority” of the existing global governance. The
“crisis of authority” mainly arose for two reasons: (1) the distribution of
power between the developed and the developing countries is dramatically
shifting in favor of the latter. This situation endows the developing coun-
tries and emerging powers (especially China) with more material capabili-
ties and ambitions to transform themselves from the rule-followers to the
rule-makers, which objectively challenges the Western-based rule-making
process and architecture of global governance; (2) the abovementioned
three crises have exposed the lack of effectiveness and representative-
ness of the existing US-led global governance. Specifically, the “crisis of
6 P. BO
would be too high a cost for China to make changes to this system.
However, the thesis draws on Brantly Womack’s viewpoint on neolib-
eral institutionalism. Womack makes a conceptual distinction between the
“status quo” and the “status ad quem.” The former literally indicates “the
situation at which” (we are at present), and the latter refers to “the situa-
tion to which” (we are moving in the future). According to Womack, “if
the status quo itself is moving and will not return then current concerns
about whether China is a status quo power or a revisionist power are
misplaced” (Womack, 2015: 135). In line with his conceptual clarifica-
tion, Womack interprets China as a status ad quem power in terms of
shaping a conducive neighboring environment at the regional level and
preventing a comprehensive confrontation with the United States at the
global level.
the analysis is seen as a system that surpasses time and space rather than a
historical product that evolves over time. For example, in the context of
systematic IR theory, a system is made up of states, and these states are
considered rational and stable units that are not affected spatiotemporally.
In this respect, system and state are studied from a non-historical perspec-
tive, which promotes the study of international political theory as a sort
of “hard science” research within the natural sciences. The second is the
objectivity of systematic theory. One of the basic conditions of scientific
research is to treat the objective of analysis as an objective reality. By doing
so (social or natural) scientists can objectively observe, test, and verify
the objective of analysis. Specifically, from the perspective of structural
realism, a system is shaped by the distribution of material capability, and
material capability can easily be observed and measured through objective
indicators and criteria. From the perspective of neoliberal institutionalism,
a system is established on and characterized by the institution. Although
institution does not belong to the material category, the existence and
implementation of the institution and the degree of institutionalization
are regarded as facts that can be observed and measured objectively.
From the perspective of social constructivism, Alexander Wendt adopts
Durkheim’s sociological approach of defining social facts as a social reality.
This emphasizes that “sociologists can study in a way similar to how other
scientists, such as physicists, study the physical world” (Durkheim, 2014).
The third is the simplicity of the systematic theory. Normally, scientific
theory has the feature of simplicity. In this respect, systematic theory, as
a sort of scientific theory, has a higher possibility of providing a simple
theoretical system. Systematic theory mainly focuses on the influence of
systematic factors on individuals. Therefore, systematic theory generally
sets system and individual as two basic variables and makes hypothetical
statements regarding the relationship between these two variables. As a
result, by focusing on the two variables, systematic IR theory is able to
meet the requirement of simplicity, as other natural scientific theory does.
Although systematic IR theories, by virtue of their abovementioned
defining features, interpret international relations and world affairs in
a more “scientific” manner, they are also faced with several limitations
because of these very features.
In the first place, although synchronicity is a major precondition
for constructing systematic IR theory as a scientific theory, it cannot
ignore the significance of diachronicity in understanding international
politics. In fact, it is inadvisable to merely emphasize the synchronicity
18 P. BO
the world. The long-standing interaction between China and the world,
from “tributary system” to “hundred years of humiliation” to “reforming
and opening-up,” contribute a great deal to Chinese unique perception
and understanding of international relations. Thus, the neglect of China’s
historical experience is not conducive to the complete and holistic inter-
pretation of China’s policies and practices in the existing international
system.
In the second place, systematic theory’s overemphasis of objectivity
inevitably leads to the neglect of the mutual constitution between struc-
ture and agent. Systematic IR theory sees the international system and
nation-state as two separate objective realities. From this point of depar-
ture, systematic IR theory focuses on investigating the impact of the inter-
national system on the nation-state. Specifically, in order to simplify their
theoretical assumptions, structural realism and neoliberal institutionalism
deliberately avoid discussions of the role of the nation-state and, respec-
tively, emphasize “structural selection” and “institutional selection.” In
its initial stage, as Alexander Wendt illustrated in The Agent-Structure
Problem in International Relations Theory (1987), social constructivism
placed emphasis on the mutual constitution between the international
system and nation-state. However, since Wendt draws on the systematic
model (of structural realism) when reinterpreting social constructivism,
it undoubtedly weakens the bidirectional constitution between structure
and agent, and it highlights instead unidirectional constitution from the
international system to nation-state. With regard to China, defining it as
a “constrained emerging power” verifies this unidirectional constitution
process. In other words, social constructivism overemphasizes the role
of the existing norm and cultural structure in shaping China unidirec-
tionally rather than paying due attention to China’s agency in shaping
the norm structure. However, in the era of global governance, according
to Matthew Hoffmann and Alice Ba, “actors have always had the ability
and wherewithal to affect their own conditions” (Hoffmann & Ba, 2005:
254). Moreover, the dynamic era continuously creates opportunities for
agency. Although global governance consists of a set of hegemonic ideas
and institutions that sustain the power structure and the privilege of
the established powers, it does not imply that “those ideas and struc-
tures are not constantly undergoing contestation; nor is it to say that
non-core actors see themselves without agency” (Ba, 2005: 195). In
particular, globalization and regionalism offer the nation-state a platform
and opportunity to assert various ideas, solutions, and visions, etc.
20 P. BO
Fig. 1.2 The logic mapping of the book (Source The author’s compilation)
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mais ils espèrent des biens éternels, leur compte est en règle sur les
registres du Paradis. Que je sois plus pauvre que de la pauvreté des
saints ! Je recevrai de toi, de ton bon vouloir, de ta pitié chérie
chaque année, chaque mois, chaque semaine, chaque matin de
mon humble vie. Ah ! chaque nuit passée dans ta maison sera ma
victoire remportée sur le temps, l’oubli, la satiété, l’opinion du
monde, toutes les forces qui m’oppriment et que je hais. Tu le disais,
tu l’as dit, je l’avoue : hélas ! d’où vient cet orgueil que je ne puis
arracher ? Je l’arracherai ! D’où vient ce goût hideux d’une perfection
impossible, inhumaine, du renoncement, du martyre ! Je l’étoufferai.
Si c’est là mon âme, ange ou bête, je ne puis la supporter plus
longtemps.
— Ange ou bête, croyez-moi, Françoise ; elle a toujours raison de
nous.
— Il n’est pas si vrai que vous dites. Certes, je n’ai aucune idée
de Dieu, ni la moindre curiosité de lui. Je suppose qu’ils ont divinisé
leur crainte de la mort, ou je ne sais quoi. Qu’est-ce que cela nous
fait ? Nous ne craignons pas la mort.
— Je la crains, je ne crains qu’elle.
— Alors vous ne craignez rien. Que connaîtrez-vous jamais
d’elle, mon chéri ? Une minute d’angoisse bien vivante… Non, je ne
saurais croire en Dieu, ni aux âmes, mais je crois à un certain
principe en moi qui me blesse, qui usurpe ma volonté, ou cherche à
la suborner par ruse. Ah ! quand vous m’accusez de me contredire
et de me déchirer en vain, c’est contre lui que je lutte, et si je vous
parais souvent téméraire ou folle, c’est que je lutte en aveugle, car je
ne découvre cet ennemi que peu à peu, aux coups qu’il me porte.
Oui, je découvre peu à peu sa force, et la duplicité de sa force.
Toutefois, je pourrais le nommer par son nom : c’est l’orgueil,
Jacques, c’est ce même orgueil dont vous m’accusiez, il y a un
moment, d’être dupe, et qui me fait sage et insensée tour à tour,
prudente ou téméraire, jamais pareille. L’orgueil, mais pas le mien.
— Est-ce seulement l’orgueil, Françoise, un emportement si
lucide ?
— Oh ! vous ne savez pas ce que c’est d’être opprimée par sa
race, asservie, écrasée ! Vous avez vu quelquefois mon père, depuis
deux mois. C’est bien assez de le voir et de l’entendre un moment —
ce regard, par une contradiction inexplicable, rêveur et dur, ce
visage long, étroit, marqué de rides perpendiculaires, impassible
jusque dans le rire, ce menton hautain, la manière qu’il a de
détourner un peu les épaules en levant le front, ainsi qu’un homme
qui n’accepte pas de prendre parti, qui se dégage, qui se tient quitte
par avance des malheurs ou des sottises de son espèce, avec une
compassion insolente, plus insolente que le mépris. Jamais je n’ai
reçu de lui un avis, un conseil, un ordre, qui ne fût donné du bout
des lèvres. Il y a des politesses glacées : la sienne n’a même pas ce
froid qui fait mal. Je jure que tout est marqué, tout est en règle, dans
sa vie pourtant solitaire, si secrète : la pire malice n’y saurait mordre.
Ma mère est morte six mois après ma naissance, en pleine
jeunesse, en pleine beauté, et il m’a dit un jour qu’elle avait été
simple et parfaite (de quel ton !)… Hé bien, vous ne trouveriez pas
un seul portrait d’elle dans son appartement, ni — j’en suis sûre —
au fond de ses tiroirs. La jolie gravure de Mondoli est accrochée
dans le petit salon d’atours, où il n’entre plus. Que dire encore ? S’il
a rompu avec les siens, s’il se résigne à vieillir à quatre cents lieues
de son pays natal, c’est pour une raison que j’ignore, mais que je
pressens, pour une raison qui lui ressemble, par servitude stoïque à
quelque point d’honneur — son honneur, son honneur à lui, car il
n’est qu’un honneur à son usage, inaccessible aux autres hommes,
élémentaire et superstitieux, comme la religion des sauvages. Oui,
l’orgueil, le seul orgueil l’a mené ici, l’y fera mourir, pour quelque
cause que ce soit… Et toute sa race est ainsi, Jacques. Ne riez pas !
En France, vous ne savez plus guère ce que c’est qu’une race, vous
avez trop d’esprit, vous vous en tirez avec un éclat de rire — et c’est
vrai que le rire délivre, le vôtre, le rire à la française. Je n’ai jamais
pu rire comme vous. Je ne pourrais pas. Une race comme la nôtre,
quel fardeau.
— Un fantôme, ma chérie. Il eût suffi de le regarder en face. Un
fantôme qui traîne dans vos brouillards, sur vos pelouses… Mais
vous irez si loin avec moi que vous ne le rencontrerez plus, jamais.
— Mon Dieu ! puissiez-vous dire vrai, Jacques.
— Souhaitez-vous tellement que je dise vrai, ma pauvre amie ?
— Oh ! je sais bien ce que vous pensez ! Il y a toujours dans
votre pitié un peu de malice. Et certes, je ne connais rien des miens,
des plus proches. Ce que je sais de notre famille, je l’ai appris de la
vieille histoire de mon pays, et que m’importe aujourd’hui ces doges
et ces dogaresses ? Je me moque d’eux. Ils ne peuvent me faire
aucun mal. M’estimez-vous, sans rire, capable de la même vanité
nobiliaire que Mme de La Framette, ou le petit Clerjan, dont nous
nous sommes amusés hier ? Il est d’autres pauvres filles comme
moi, par le monde, qui sentent sur leurs épaules un poids aussi
lourd, bien qu’elles ne soient titrées ni nobles : le scrupule, l’intégrité,
la vertu roide et domestique d’aïeules et de bisaïeules, d’une lignée
de femmes irréprochables, obscures, tenaces dans le bien, à la fois
sages et ingénues, toujours prêtes à l’oubli de soi, au renoncement,
au sacrifice, enragées à se sacrifier. Me sacrifier à quoi ? disais-je.
Elles étaient pieuses, sans doute, craignaient Dieu, l’enfer, le péché,
croyaient aux Anges, résistaient aux tentations, les ont vaincues.
Elles ont emporté leur piété, ne m’ont laissé que leur sagesse. Que
puis-je faire de leur sagesse ? Elle découronne ma vie. Je n’ai
jamais été tentée. Ce qu’elles appelaient folie rebute encore mes
sens et ma raison. Leur dépendance était consentie, la mienne est
absurde, tyrannique, intolérable. J’ai cédé une fois, je me suis
donnée, non par amour, ni curiosité, encore moins par vice,
seulement pour franchir ce cercle magique, rompre avec elles, me
retrouver enfin, au fond de l’humiliation, du dégoût, de la honte, avoir
à rougir devant quelqu’un. Mais comment ai-je pu espérer d’anéantir
un orgueil dont les racines ne sont pas en moi ? Même le regard de
mon père ne me faisait pas baisser les yeux. Je sentais trop bien
que s’il eût pu lire dans mon cœur ma déception, ma fureur, il m’eût
reconnue sienne à ma manière de soutenir un tel défi.
Elle tourna vers lui sa bouche frémissante, et dit d’une voix
comme étrangère.
— Mais votre pardon, à vous, Jacques, votre pardon m’a
humiliée.
Il la reçut dans ses bras ; il sentit un court instant sur les siennes
ses lèvres froides et il osait à peine presser de la main le petit corps
tiède et tremblant. Déjà elle était debout à ses côtés.
— Ce n’est pas moi, c’est toi, fit-elle, qui auras raison de mon
âme… Une âme, vois-tu, c’est un grand mot, ça n’est pas si terrible
qu’on le suppose. Ne fais pas ces yeux sévères ! Es-tu si
superstitieux, mon amour ?
Elle lui échappa en riant.
— Je vous attendrai demain à Louciennes, demain matin… Et je
n’emporterai rien d’ici, vous savez ? rien de rien, non… les cheveux
tondus des Suppliantes, et les mains nues.
Par une longue déchirure à l’ouest, le ciel parut, d’un bleu pâle,
et les flancs épars des nuages s’allumèrent tous à la fois. La
dernière palpitation de l’astre errant brilla soudain aux mille facettes
de la pluie.
TABLE
Une Nuit 1
Dialogue d’Ombres 49
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