Title: Reclassifying Chinese Nationalism: the<i>geopolitik</i>turn
Abstract: Abstract This article assesses the rise of China by exploring a number of recent popular Chinese political texts to go beyond explanations that take the international system as the level of analysis. It proposes that a merging of nationalism and geopolitical thinking is taking place, resulting in the emergence of a new form of nationalism that can be categorised as 'geopolitik nationalism' because it deploys many of the themes evident in the political thought of Germany and Japan before the two world wars. By considering the impact of such ideas, it is possible to gain new insights into recent assertive actions in Chinese foreign policy. Notes *Christopher R. Hughes is Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science where he teaches courses in the International Politics of the Asia Pacific and Foreign Policy Analysis and served as Director of the Asia Research Centre from 2002 to 2005. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1995, for which he was awarded the British International Studies Association annual thesis prize. This paper was presented in draft form to the conference on 'China on the World Stage: The Struggle of a Rising Power', at the University of Denver, 21 May 2010. The author would like to thank the participants for their helpful comments and criticisms. He can be reached by email at [email protected] 1. See, for example, P. H. Gries, China's New Nationalism: Pride, Politics and Diplomacy (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004); Zhao Suisheng, A Nation-State by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004); Zheng Yongnian, Discovering Chinese Nationalism in China: Modernization, Identity and International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). 2. See, for example, Bernard D. Cole, The Great Wall at Sea, Second Edition: China's Navy in the Twenty-First Century (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2010). The most notable recent attempt to set defence policy in a nationalist context is Robert S. Ross, 'China's naval nationalism: sources, prospects and the US response', International Security 34(2), (Fall 2009), pp. 46–81. The scope of Ross's survey of the broader domestic politics of Chinese nationalism is limited mainly to military thinkers, however. Susan Shirk also focuses on how domestic nationalism impacts on a number of foreign policy areas in China: Fragile Superpower (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007). A shortcoming of the otherwise masterful book by James R. Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara, Chinese Naval Strategy in the 21st Century: The Turn to Mahan (London and New York: Routledge, 2008), is that it does not consider nationalism as a possible factor in the shaping of geopolitical thinking in China. 3. The term 'geopolitik nationalism' has been used in an article by Lei Guang. Lei defines this as 'a nation state's engagement in power politics in the international arena; its practices range from defending the national interests … against other nation states to striving for dominance or relative gains against its adversaries' which is much broader than the meaning of 'geopolitik', and closer to classical 'geopolitics', a distinction that is explained below. See Lei Guang, 'Realpolitik nationalism: international sources of Chinese nationalism', Modern China 31(4), (October 2005), p. 498. 4. Jiang Rong (Lu Jiamin), Lang tuteng [Wolf Totem] (Wuhan: Changjiang wenyi chubanshe, 2004). 5. Song Xiaojun, Wang Xiaodong, Huang Jisu, Song Qiang and Liu Yang, Zhongguo bu gaoxing: da shidai, da mubiao ji women de nei you wai huan [Unhappy China: Great Times, Grand Objective and Our Internal Concerns and External Peril] (Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 2009). 6. Zhang Wenmu, Zhongguo hai quan [China's Maritime Rights] (Beijing: Haijun chubanshe, 2009). 7. Liu Mingfu, Zhongguo meng: hou Meiguo shidai de da guo siwei yu zhanlue dingwei [China Dream: Great Power Considerations and Fixing Strategy in the Post-American Era] (Beijing: Zhongguo youyi chubanshe. 2010). 8. This has been left out of the English version published by Penguin in 2008: Jiang Rong, Wolf Totem, translated by Howard Goldblatt [London and New York: Hamish Hamilton (Penguin), 2008]. 9. He Beilin, 'Foreword', in Zhongguo keyi shuo bu [China Can Say No] (Beijing: Zhonghua gongshang lianhe chubanshe, 1996), p. 3. 10. Zhang Wenmu, 'Sea power and China's strategic choices', China Security, (Summer 2006), pp. 17–31, available at: http://www.wsichina.org/cs3_2.pdf. 11. See Jeremy Black, Geopolitics (London: The Social Affairs Unit, 2009), p. 107. 12. A concise summary of this tradition can be found in Ibid., pp. 107–140. 13. A concise summary of this tradition can be found in, p. 136. 14. Russell Nozomi Horiuchi, Chiseigaku: Japanese Geopolitics, Ph.D. thesis, University of Washington, 1975, pp. 1–2. 15. Jiang, Lang tuteng, p. 375. 16. Jiang, Lang tuteng, pp. 391, 399–400. 17. Wang Xiaodong, 'Sakeji jian Dalai: liao wu xin yi de youxi' ['Sarkozy sees the Dalai: understanding a game with no novelty'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 164. 18. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, pp. 84–86. 19. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 109. 20. Horiuchi, Chiseigaku, pp. 49–57. 21. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 91. 22. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, pp. 7–10. 23. Horiuchi, Chiseigaku, pp. 49–57. 24. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 95. 25. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, pp. 92–93. 26. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, pp. 41–42. 27. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 161. 28. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 166. 29. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 168. 30. Liu, Zhongguo meng, pp. 150–157. 31. Liu, Zhongguo meng, p. 102. 32. Liu, Zhongguo meng, pp. 171–241. 33. Liu, Zhongguo meng, pp. 243–280. 34. Jiang, Lang tuteng, pp. 402–403. 35. Song Xiaojun, 'Shiqing zheng zai qi bianhua: 2008 nian de xifang "tian e rong" shitan Zhongguo de "tie shoutao"' ['Things are starting to change: in 2008 the West's "eiderdown" tests China's "iron fist"'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, pp. 15–17. 36. Zhao, A Nation-State by Construction, pp. 19–31. 37. A comprehensive and authoritative (the Foreword is by then CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin) exposition of this orthodoxy can be found in: Deng Xiaoping waijiao sixiang xuexi gangyao bianxie zu, ed., Deng Xiaoping waijiao sixiang xuexi gangyao [Outline for the Study of Deng Xiaoping's Thought on Foreign Relations] (Beijing: shijie zhishi chubanshe, 2001), pp. 101–107. 38. Hu Jintao announced the 'harmonious world' concept at the United Nations headquarters in New York in September 2005. See 'Hu names 4-point proposal for building harmonious world', Xinhua, (15 September 2005). 39. Zhao, A Nation-State by Construction, p. 21. 40. Wang Xiaodong, 'Gai you xifang zheng shi Zhongguo "bu gaoxing" le' ['China's "unhappiness" should be seen correctly from the West'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, pp. 41–44. 41. Wang Xiaobo, 'Shenmo de daduoshu' ['The silent majority'], Shenmo de daduoshu (Shanghai: sanlian shudian, 2008), pp. 1–12. 42. Song, 'Shiqing zheng zai qi bianhua', p. 17. 43. Wang, 'Gai you xifang zheng shi Zhongguo "bu gaoxing" le', p. 40. 44. Song Xiaojun, 'Meiguo bu shi zhi laohu, shi lao huanggua shua lu qi' ['America is not a paper tiger, it is an old cucumber painted green'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 86. 45. The paragraphs linking the massacre of horses by wolves with the Nanjing Massacre have been omitted from the English translation. The section can be found in the Chinese version on p. 56 paragraphs 5–7. 46. Wang, 'Gai you xifang zheng shi Zhongguo "bu gaoxing" le', p. 40. 47. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, pp. 84–89. 48. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 84. 49. Wang Xiaodong, 'Chi jian jing shang: jueqi da guo de zhisheng zhi dao' ['Wielding a sword to do business: the way rising powers secure victory'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 103. 50. Liu, Zhongguo meng, p. 293. 51. Liu, Zhongguo meng, p. 302. 52. Liu, Zhongguo meng, p. 301. 53. Liu, Zhongguo meng, pp. 254–255. 54. Wang Xiaodong, 'Quefa waibu' [Lack of external pressure for a decision is the crux of China's unhappiness], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, pp. 19–22. 55. Huang Jisu, 'Da dao quan wang, da cui quan tai: jianli xin zhixu cong jipo cong neibu gao shang zuo qi' ['Strike down the boxer king, smash the boxing ring: start to build a new order by compelling domestic nobility'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, pp. 126–127. 56. Song Qiang, 'Zhongguo wu fa xian qi da' ['There is no way China cannot reveal its greatness'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 96. 57. Wang Xiaodong, 'Jiefangjun yao gen Zhongguo hexin liyi zou' ['The PLA should go with core national interests'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 108. 58. Jiang, Lang tuteng, pp. 583, 621. 59. Wang, 'Quefa waibu', p. 24. 60. Wang, 'Quefa waibu', p. 24. 61. Song Xiaojun, 'Women de caifu: 1840 nian yilai de lishi tongku' ['Our wealth: historical suffering since 1840'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, pp. 13–15. 62. Song Xiaojun, 'Women de caifu: 1840 nian yilai de lishi tongku' ['Our wealth: historical suffering since 1840'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 7. 63. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 93. 64. Huang, 'Da dao quan wang', p. 130. 65. Wang Xiaodong, 'Chen huo da jie: da qi women de jishu shuiping' ['Loot the burning house: raise the level of our technology'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 134. 66. Song, 'Shiqing zheng zai qi bianhua', p. 14. 67. Wang Xiaodong, 'Jinrong chanye bi zhong guo da hi fuqiao de biaozhi' ['Too much financial industry is the sign of rot'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 114. 68. Song Xiaojun, 'Meiguo bu shi zhi laohu', pp. 88–92. 69. Song Xiaojun, 'Meiguo bu shi zhi laohu', pp. 85–94. 70. Song Xiaojun, 'Meiguo bu shi zhi laohu', p. 80; Wang Xiaodong, 'Chi jian jing shang', in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, pp. 98–105. 71. Ibid., p. 80; Wang Xiaodong, 'Dai jian jing shang', in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 103. 72. Michael Swaine, 'Perceptions of an assertive China', China Leadership Monitor no. 32, (2010), p. 3. 73. Li Hongmei, 'China's "core interests" diplomacy gains ground', People's Daily Online, (20 November 2009), available at: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90002/96417/6819611.html (accessed 18 August 2010). 74. The extension of the term was originally reported by Kyodo news agency, which cited unnamed officials who asserted that the claim that the South China Sea is a 'core interest' was made during the visit of the US National Security Council's Jeffrey Bader and the State Department's James Steinberg to Beijing in March 2010. See 'US goes fishing for trouble', Kyodo News Agency, (29 July 2010), available at: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/LG29Ad02.html. Since then it has been frequently applied to the South China Sea by the rest of the media and by Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. 75. Wu Liming and Chen Yong, 'US involvement will only complicate South China Sea issue', Xinhua (online), (27 July 2010), available at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-07/27/c_13417848.htm. 76. Swaine, 'Perceptions of an assertive China', p. 3. 77. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 188. The lecture is added as an appendix to Zhang's book. 78. Zhu Qi, 'Lang sheng si qi' ['Wolf sounds from all sides'], Non non, available at: http://blog.roodo.com/non2005/archives/1891059.html (accessed 11 October 2009). 79. 'Wolfgang Kubin on Chinese literature', translated by Priest Liu, at ESW Culture Blog, available at: http://www.zonaeuropa.com/culture/c20061214_1.htm (accessed 11 October 2009). 80. Li Jianjun, 'Wenxue shang de faxisi zhuyi' ['Fascism in literature'], in He Xiongfei, ed., Zhongguo weishenme bu gaoxing [Why China is Unhappy] (Beijing: shijie zhishi chubanshe, 2009), p. 161. 81. A particularly humorous collection of essays by bloggers that ridicule the whole idea of the fenqing can be found in Zhou Xiaofu, Ye Chuhua and Liao Baoping, Zhongguo shei zai bu gaoxing [Who is Unhappy in China] (Guangzhou: Huacheng chubanshe, 2009). 82. See for example the historical overview of geopolitics by Beijing University professor Ye Zicheng, 'Cong da lishi guan kan diyuan zhengzhi' ['Looking at geopolitics from the perspective macrohistory'], Xiandai guoji guanxi no. 6, (2007); reprinted in the collection of articles by mainstream academics in: Tang Jin, ed., Da guo ce: da waijiao [Great Power Strategy: Great Power Diplomacy] (Beijing: Renmin ribao chubanshe, 2009). For an introduction to critical geopolitics, see Klaus Dodds, Global Politics: A Critical Introduction (Harlow: Pearson, 2005). 83. Charles Carlisle Taylor, The Life of Admiral Mahan, Naval Philosopher (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1920; reprinted by BiblioLife, LCC), pp. 114–117. 84. Liu, Zhongguo meng, pp. 51–52 and 155–157. 85. Ye, 'Cong da lishi guan kan diyuan zhengzhi'. 86. Anonymous, 'Zhongguo nu pai xuyao "lang tuteng" jingshen' ['The Chinese women's team needs the "wolf spirit"'], Tianya shequ, (2008), available at: http://laiba.tianya.cn/laiba/CommMsgs?cmm = 19126&tid = 2612811189512149988 (accessed 11 October 2009). 87. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 107. 88. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 127. 89. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 168. 90. Song Qiang, 'Bu neng zai gao "lun pan du" ba Zhong Fa guanxi shizhi xing luodi' ['Don't play "roulette" any more, lower the quality of Sino-French relations'], in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 160. 91. Song, 'Shiqiing zheng zai qi bianhua', p. 10. 92. Song, 'Shiqiing zheng zai qi bianhua', p. 17. Directed by the United States-based Taiwanese film maker Ang Lee and released in 2007, Lust, Caution is based on a short story by the popular novelist Eileen Chang about the activities of a group of young Chinese in the anti-Japanese resistance. It was the source of controversy in China for a number of reasons, including scenes of explicit sex and its negative portrayal of the CCP underground resistance. The subtleties and boldness of the way in which the film questions much of China's nationalist mythology has made it a target of patriotic indignation for many writers in China. 93. Linda Jakobson and Dean Knox, New Foreign Policy Actors in China, SIPRI Policy Paper no. 26, (2010). 94. Liu Huaqing, Liu Huaqing huiyi lu [Memoirs of Liu Huaqing] (Beijing: Jiefangjun chubanshe, 2005), pp. 432–439; Holmes and Yoshihara, Chinese Naval Strategy in the 21st Century, pp. 27–46. 95. Wang Xiaodong, 'Jiefangjun yao gen Zhongguo hexin liyi zou', in Song et al., Zhongguo bu gaoxing, p. 106. 96. Song, 'Meiguo bu shi zhi laohu', p. 89. 97. State Council, China's National Defense in 2008, (2009), available at: http://www.china.org.cn/government/central_government/2009-01/20/content_17155577.htm. 98. Luo Yuan, 'Wo jun shaojiang: Zhongguo yao cheng yi liu qiangguo bixu you shangwu jingshen' ['Our army's major general: China must have a militaristic spirit if it wants to become a first rate great power'], Huanqui shibao, (12 December 2010), available at: http://mil.huanqiu.com/Exclusive/2010-12/1335471.html. Major General Luo's remarks gained additional attention because he is the son of Luo Qingchang, a former secretary general of China's State Council and manager of China's cabinet under former Premier Zhou Enlai. 99. Holmes and Toshihara, Chinese Naval Strategy in the 21st Century, p. 9. 100. 'US commander blasts Chinese Navy's behaviour', Asahi Shimbun, (16 June 2010). 101. 'American shadow over South China Sea', Global Times, (26 July 2010), available at: http://opinion.globaltimes.cn/editorial/2010-07/555723.html (author's italics). 102. Horiuchi, Chiseigaku, p. 25. 103. The argument that China can follow the kind of power balancing pursued by Bismarck in Europe has also been made by Avery Goldstein's critique of structural realist predictions in Avery Goldstein, Rising to the Challenge: China's Grand Challenge and International Security (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005). 104. Ross, 'China's naval nationalism', pp. 69–74. 105. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 128. 106. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, pp. 144–147. 107. Zhang, Zhongguo hai quan, p. 166.
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-09-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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