Abstract
Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, the People’s Republic of China has moved to a more proactive foreign policy. While the Chinese economy’s increased importance within global production has given China a greater influence on the world stage, a more proactive Chinese foreign policy has its roots in the rise of a new Chinese nationalism. This chapter analyses two case studies of the effects of China’s new nationalism on Chinese foreign policy: Sino-Japanese relations during the Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Islands disputes of 2013–2019 (reactive case), and Sino-Malian relations during Chinese peacekeeping missions in 2013 (proactive case). It argues that in policy formation, domestic Chinese nationalism is a factor that warrants greater consideration for Chinese foreign policymakers than it had elicited prior to Xi Jinping’s administration.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Aidoo, Richard, and Steve Hess. “Beyond the Rhetoric: Noninterference in China’s African Policy.” African and Asian Studies 9, no. 3 (2010): 356–383.
Bloom, William. Personal Identity, National Identity and International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Brittingham, Michael Alan. “The ‘Role’ of Nationalism in Chinese Foreign Policy: A Reactive Model of Nationalism & Conflict.” Journal of Chinese Political Science 12, no. 2 (2007): 147–166.
Carlson, Allen. “A Flawed Perspective: The Limitations Inherent Within the Study of Chinese Nationalism.” Nations and Nationalism 15, no. 1 (2009): 20–35.
Chubb, Andrew. “Assessing Public Opinion’s Influence on Foreign Policy: The Case of China’s Assertive Maritime Behaviour.” Asian Security 15, no. 2 (2019): 159–179.
Connolly, Chris, and Jörn-Carsten Gottwald. “The Long Quest for an International Order with Chinese Characteristics: A Cultural Perspective on Modern China’s Foreign Policies.” Pacific Focus XXVIII, no. 2 (2013): 269–293.
Downs, Erica Strecker, and Phillip C. Saunders. “Legitimacy and the Limits of Nationalism: China and the Diaoyu Islands.” International Security 23, no. 3 (1998): 114–146.
Duggan, Niall. “China’s Changing Role in Its All-Weather Friendship with Africa.” In China’s International Roles Challenging or Supporting International Order?, edited by Sebastian Harnisch, Sebastian Bersick, and Jörn-Carsten Gottwald, 207–225. Abingdon: Routledge, 2015.
Fewsmith, Joseph, and Stanley Rosen. “The Domestic Context of Chinese Foreign Policy: Does ‘Public Opinion’ Matter?” In The Making of Chinese Foreign and Security Policy in the Era of Reform, 1978–2000, edited by David Lampton, 151–190. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.
Gottwald, Jörn-Carsten, and Niall Duggan. “Hesitant Adaptation: China’s New Role in Global Policies.” In Role Theory in International Relations, edited by Sebastian Harnisch, Cornelia Frank, and Hanns W. Maull, 234–251. Abingdon: Routledge, 2011.
Gries, Peter Hays, Derek Steiger, and Tao Wang. “Popular Nationalism and China’s Japan Policy: The Diaoyu Islands Protests, 2012–2013.” Journal of Contemporary China 25, no. 98 (2016): 264–276.
Harnisch, Sebastian. “China’s Historical Self and Its International Role.” In China’s International Roles Challenging or Supporting International Order?, edited by Sebastian Harnisch, Sebastian Bersick, and Jörn-Carsten Gottwald, 38–58. Abingdon: Routledge, 2015.
He, Yinan. “History, Chinese Nationalism and the Emerging Sino-Japanese Conflict.” Journal of Contemporary China 16, no. 50 (2007): 1–24.
Johnston, Alastair Iain. “Is Chinese Nationalism Rising? Evidence from Beijing.” International Security 41, no. 3 (2017): 7–43.
Kinnvall, Catarina. “Globalization and Religious Nationalism: Self, Identity, and the Search for Ontological Security.” Political Psychology 25, no. 5 (2004): 741–767.
Krolikowski, Alanna. “State Personhood in Ontological Security Theories of International Relations and Chinese Nationalism: A Sceptical View.” Chinese Journal of International Politics 2, no. 1 (2008): 109–133.
Liao, Nien-chung Chang. “China’s New Foreign Policy Under Xi Jinping.” Asian Security 12, no. 2 (2016): 82–91.
Mitzen, Jennifer. “Anchoring Europe’s Civilizing Identity: Habits, Capabilities and Ontological Security.” Journal of European Public Policy 13, no. 2 (2006): 270–85.
Modongal, Shameer. “Development of Nationalism in China.” Cogent Social Sciences 2, no. 1 (2016).
Poh, Angela, and Mingjiang Li. “A China in Transition: The Rhetoric and Substance of Chinese Foreign Policy Under Xi Jinping.” Asian Security 13, no. 2 (2017): 84–97.
Reilly, James. “A Wave to Worry About? Public Opinion, Foreign Policy and China’s Anti-Japan Protests.” Journal of Contemporary China 23, no. 86 (2014): 197–215.
Sato, Koichi. “The Senkaku Islands Dispute: Four Reasons of the Chinese Offensive—A Japanese View.” Journal of Contemporary East Asia Studies 8, no. 1 (2019): 50–82.
Schneider, Julia C. “Early Chinese Nationalism: The Origins Under Manchu Rule.” In Interpreting China as a Regional and Global Power: Nationalism and Historical Consciousness in World Politics, edited by Bart Dessein, 7–29. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
Steele, Brent J. Ontological Security in International Relations. Abingdon: Routledge, 2008.
Stryker, Sheldon, and Anne Statham. “Symbolic Interaction and Role Theory.” In Handbook of Social Psychology, edited by Gardner Lindzey and Elliot Aronson, 311–378. New York: Random House, 1985.
Taylor, Ian. China and Africa: Engagement and Compromise. Abingdon: Routledge, 2006.
Thies, Cameron. “Role Theory and Foreign Policy.” In The International Studies Encyclopaedia, edited by Robert A. Denemark, 6335–6356. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Thies, Cameron. The United States, Israel and the Search for International Order. London: Routledge, 2013.
Wang, Zheng. “National Humiliation, History Education, and the Politics of Historical Memory: Patriotic Education Campaign in China.” International Studies Quarterly 52, no. 4 (2008): 783–806.
Weiss, Jessica Chen. “How Hawkish Is the Chinese Public? Another Look at ‘Rising Nationalism’ and Chinese Foreign Policy.” Journal of Contemporary China 28, no. 119 (2019): 679–695.
Wing, Susanna D. “French Intervention in Mali: Strategic Alliances, Long-Term Regional Presence?” Small Wars & Insurgencies 27, no. 1 (2016): 59–80.
Wu, Xu. Chinese Cyber Nationalism: Evolution, Characteristics, and Implications. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007.
Xiaolin, Duan. “Unanswered Questions: Why We May Be Wrong About Chinese Nationalism and Its Foreign Policy Implications.” Journal of Contemporary China 26, no. 108 (2017): 886–900.
Ying, Jiang. Cyber-Nationalism in China: Challenging Western Media Portrayals of Internet Censorship in China. Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press, 2012.
Zarakol, Ayse. “Ontological Security and State Denial of Historical Crimes: Turkey and Japan.” International Relations 24, no. 3 (2010): 3–23.
Zhang, Jian. “China’s New Foreign Policy Under Xi Jinping: Towards ‘Peaceful Rise 2.0’?” Global Change, Peace & Security 27, no. 1 (2015): 5–19.
Zhao, Shuisheng. “Chinese Nationalism and Its International Orientations.” Political Science Quarterly 115, no. 1 (2000): 1–33.
Zhao, Suisheng. “A State-Led Nationalism: The Patriotic Education Campaign in Post-Tiananmen China.” Communist and Post-communist Studies 31, no. 3 (1998): 287–302.
Zhao, Suisheng. “China’s Pragmatic Nationalism: Is it Manageable?” The Washington Quarterly 29, no. 1 (2005): 131–144.
Zhimin, Chen. “Nationalism, Internationalism and Chinese Foreign Policy.” Journal of Contemporary China 14, no. 42 (2005): 35–53.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Duggan, N. (2020). A New Chinese National Identity: The Role of Nationalism in Chinese Foreign Policy. In: Zhouxiang, L. (eds) Chinese National Identity in the Age of Globalisation. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4538-2_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4538-2_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-4537-5
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-4538-2
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)