Online Chinese Nationalism and China's Bilateral Relations

by Simon Shen, Shaun Breslin, Winnie King, Chun-wing Lee, Kai-chi Leung

Overview

Since the Chinese were officially plugged into the virtual community in 1994, the usage of the internet in the country has developed at an incredible rate. By the end of 2008, there were approximately 298 million netizens in China, a number which surpasses that of the U.S. and ranks China the highest user in the world. The rapid development of the online Chinese community has not only boosted the information flow among citizens across the territory, but has also created a new form of social interaction between the state, the media, various professionals and intellectuals, as well as China's ordinary citizens. Although the subject of this book is online Chinese nationalism, which to a certain extent is seen as a pro-regime phenomenon, the emergence of an online civil society in China intrinsically provides some form of supervision of state power-perhaps even a check on it. The fact that the party-state has made use of this social interaction, while at the same time remaining worried about the negative impact of the same netizens, is a fundamental characteristic of the nature of the relationship between the state and the internet community.

Many questions arise when considering the internet and Chinese nationalism. Which are the most important internet sites carrying online discussion of nationalism related to the author's particular area of study? What are the differences between online nationalism and the conventional form of nationalism, and why do these differences exist? Has nationalist online expression influenced actual foreign policy making? Has nationalist online expression influenced discourse in the mainstream mass media in China? Have there been any counter reactions towards online nationalism? Where do they come from? Online Chinese Nationalism and China's Bilateral Relations seeks to address these questions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739132470
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	03/18/2010
Series:	Challenges Facing Chinese Political Development
Pages:	310
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Simon Shen is associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and chief coordinator/adjunct associate professor of the Master of Global Political Economy Programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Shaun Breslin is professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick.

Table of Contents

List of Figures vii

List of Tables ix

Acknowledgments xi

Part I Introduction

1 When China Plugged In: Structural Origins of Online Chinese Nationalism Simon Shen Shaun Breslin 3

2 Nationalism-On-Demand? When Chinese Sovereignty Goes Online Sow Keat Tok 13

Part II The First Layer: Japan, Taiwan, and the United States

3 China's Online Nationalism Toward Japan James Reilly 45

4 Networking Anti-Japanese Protests: Popular Sovereignty Reasserted since 2005 Shih-Diing Liu 73

5 Alternative Online Chinese Nationalism: Response to the Anti-Japanese Campaign in China on Hong Kong's Internet Simon Shen 91

6 Ethnocentric Perception Re-explored: Online Chinese Nationalism Toward Taiwan Benson Wai-kwok Wong 109

7 The "Two Americas" Dichotomy: Online Chinese Nationalism Toward the United States Yaling Pan 129

Part III The Second Layer: The Rest of the World

8 Beyond Sino-ASEAN Relations: Online Chinese Nationalism Toward Southeast Asia Chun Zhang 159

9 Online Chinese Nationalism Toward the European Union: Economic and Diplomatic Implications of the Olympic Torch Relay Protests Winnie King 177

10 Online Nationalism and Sino-UK Relations Chun-wing Lee 199

11 A Constructed (Un)Reality on China's Reentry into Africa: The Chinese Online Community Perception of Africa Simon Shen 217

12 Discussions on Sino-Latin American Relations in Qiangguo Forums (or the Lack Thereof) Kai-chi Leung 241

Part IV Conclusion

13 Online Chinese Nationalism(s): Comparisons and Findings Shaun Breslin Simon Shen 263

Index 283

About the Editors and Contributors 295

Editorial Reviews

Simon Shen and Shaun Breslin note how the emergence of an online civil society in China intrinsically provides some form of supervision of state power, and perhaps even a check on it.

Brookings

This volume is one of the most original and important volumes for years on China's international relations. It looks at the growing phenomenon of the emergence of a quasi-civil society in China via the internet, and uses it as a basis for a rethinking of how China relates to the rest of the world, including the battlegrounds with the Western world for power such as Africa and Latin America. This is truly international relations for the century to come.

Rana Mitter

This pioneering volume illuminates a crucial new frontier in the popular articulation of Chinese nationalism in this age of hi-tech global instant communication via the Internet. Its Sino-external interface case studies vividly amplify the internet as a powerful transformational instrument with profound academic, economic, political, diplomatic and strategic impact. Those keen to learn the fuller dimensions and implications of a rising China as an electronically-connected soft power player with domestic realpolitik consequences will enjoy its rich details and refreshing findings...

Ming K. CHAN

Simon Shen and Shaun Breslin note how the emergence of an online civil society in China intrinsically provides some form of supervision of state power, and perhaps even a check on it.

June 2010 Brookings

This volume is one of the most original and important volumes for years on China's international relations. It looks at the growing phenomenon of the emergence of a quasi-civil society in China via the internet, and uses it as a basis for a rethinking of how China relates to the rest of the world, including the battlegrounds with the Western world for power such as Africa and Latin America. This is truly international relations for the century to come.--Rana Mitter, University of Oxford

Simon Shen and Shaun Breslin note how the emergence of an online civil society in China intrinsically provides some form of supervision of state power, and perhaps even a check on it.--Brookings, June 2010

This pioneering volume illuminates a crucial new frontier in the popular articulation of Chinese nationalism in this age of hi-tech global instant communication via the Internet. Its Sino-external interface case studies vividly amplify the internet as a powerful transformational instrument with profound academic, economic, political, diplomatic and strategic impact. Those keen to learn the fuller dimensions and implications of a rising China as an electronically-connected soft power player with domestic realpolitik consequences will enjoy its rich details and refreshing findings.--Ming K. CHAN, Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University

From the Publisher