Event Recap | Rethinking Wokeism, Political Correctness, and the Liberal Order: Highlights from the AOCC Richmond Seminar

On January 17, 2026, the Alliance of Chinese Conservatives (AOCC) successfully hosted a seminar in Richmond, British Columbia, titled
“The Nature, Risks, and Responses to Wokeism: From a Crisis of the Rule of Law to the Survival of Civilization.”

The seminar focused on the increasingly prominent phenomena of identity politics, wokeism, and political correctness in contemporary Western societies. It offered a systematic analysis of their intellectual origins, operational logic, and real-world consequences, while examining why these ideologies have come into structural conflict with the institutional foundations and rule-of-law principles upon which Western civilization is built.

The keynote speaker, Ross Zheng, noted that these ideas are often advanced under the banners of “social justice” and “diversity and inclusion,” placing group identity above the individual and driving continuous expansion of governmental and institutional power. This trajectory, he argued, stands in fundamental tension with the Western tradition’s emphasis on individualism, the neutrality of the rule of law, and limits on power.

At the theoretical level, the lecture drew on Friedrich Hayek’s classical liberalism and his concept of the “knowledge problem,” demonstrating that when governments attempt to pursue “outcome equality” or moral objectives through law and state power, they are unable to effectively utilize the dispersed knowledge held by individuals. The result is often declining economic efficiency, institutional dysfunction, and intensified social division.

In its concluding remarks, the seminar proposed a constructive path forward: a return to a rule-of-law order centered on the individual, with a clear reaffirmation of government’s limited role as a neutral referee rather than a “moral engineer,” in order to preserve the long-term stability and prosperity of a free society.

During the interactive discussion segment, participants engaged actively, offering diverse perspectives and lively exchanges. The discussion reflected a growing public concern and sustained reflection on the rapid transformation of identity politics, wokeism, and political correctness from academic concepts into powerful forces shaping public policy, education systems, economic activity, and social relations, and underscored the need to take their potential risks and long-term implications seriously.

The Alliance of Chinese Conservatives (AOCC) will continue to promote rational, open, and institution-based public dialogue through lectures and intellectual exchange, and warmly welcomes continued engagement from all who care about public affairs and the future of society.