China's Competing and Co-opting Nationalisms: Implications to Sino-Japanese Relations

Abstract

This paper contends that nationalism has always been a constant feature of Chinese politics. Indeed in order to understand the implications of China's nationalism vis-a-vis its emergence of China in global and regional politics, one has to examine the delicate equilibrium between state nationalism and ethnic nationalism. We put forward two hypotheses: first, if ethnic nationalism is more likely to be mobilized vis-a-vis state nationalism then an aggressive and assertive nationalism may emerge which is likely to lead to more confrontational foreign relations; second, when ethnic nationalist interests are suppressed, a more affirmative (or pragmatic) brand of nationalism tends to prevail. We argue that it is in the balancing act conducted by Chinese political elites that we can understand how nationalism has affected domestic politics. We then translate this understanding to regional politics, in particular China's relations with Japan and Taiwan.