Nationalism in China

From the Western perspective, Pei says fears regarding Chinese nationalism spring from the negative feelings toward the communist regime. "Somehow they believe the political system in China is not legitimate," he says.

Lieberthal says nationalistic protests are a combination of genuine popular outrage and government manipulations to let that protest grow, which often helps the Chinese government's bargaining position as that incident is negotiated with the offending party.

A Double-Edged Sword
Beijing's top priority today is to maintain peace at home while pursuing its development goals and a greater role in global affairs. Experts say while nationalism may be an effective tool for the Chinese regime to maintain control at home, it can harm its claim of "peaceful rise" globally. Pei says nationalism is certainly an obstacle in China's image as a responsible stakeholder. "A very nationalistic public makes foreigners very wary of China and harms China's image," he says.

Domestically, too, excessive nationalism poses problems for the authoritarian government. The government takes great care to suppress ethnic nationalism among its minorities such as Tibetans and Uighurs who are denied the right to establish separate states. Nationalism in Taiwan, too, is seen as a threat by Beijing, which hopes to unite with the island someday. The Chinese leaders also fear nationalism could turn against them in the form of criticism if they failed to deliver on their nationalistic promises. New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof writes: "All this makes nationalism a particularly interesting force in China, given its potential not just for conferring legitimacy on the government but also for taking it away."

© 2008