Search

This paper examines the projection and reception of strategic narratives in the realm of Chinese nationalism and the impact of contemporary official nationalist discourse on Beijing?s foreign policy making. Within the analytic framework of political symbolism,the paper dissects the divergent national identities reflective in different semantic and syntactic relationships inherent in the state?crafted historical narratives in contemporary China. In the post?Tiananmen era, the signification of the traumatic symbol of national humiliation in modern Chinese history,projected in the form of strategic narratives by the Party?state in patriotic education,has given rise to a societal force that threatens to internalize the historical conflicts on the foreign relations front. The counter?effect of strategic narratives, which has constrained the rationality of the state?s foreign policy making,implies that collective memory is not an on?demand resource for the authoritarian regime to exploit to enhance its legitimacy. The relationship between the Chinese state and society as the constructor and consumer of communicative nationalism cannot be simplistically dichotomized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National image is not only a channel to wield a state’s national power, but also an important national power resource. It has become critically important for China as it tries to rise in a relatively favorable international environment. Following a theoretical discussion on national image management in international relations and a historical review of China’s national image management, this article examines China’s strengths and weaknesses in its national image management. On the one hand, China’s national image benefits from its strong commitment to cultural diplomacy, effective employment of information and communication technologies in international broadcasting, and close connections with the Chinese diaspora around the world. On the other hand, China’s national image management is constrained by such hurdles as weak political credibility, reviving popular nationalism, and various missteps in its foreign policies. This study concludes that China’s national image management will remain an uphill battle in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The 2008 Olympic Games is so significant in reconstructing Chinese nationalism as well as reshaping the state-society relationship because in the single year of 2008 most of the political mobilization and social movements were driven by the games; most of the focusing events (e.g. accidents and disasters) are redirected or reinterpreted due to the games; most of the contradictions and conflicts are concealed or exposed under the name of the games. Both the authorities and the public faced more opportunities, challenges and pressures from the domestic and international community because of the games. The reconstruction of Olympic-mobilized nationalism then lies in such dynamic official and popular responses and also reflects transforming state-society relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Beijing Olympic Games, one of the most significant social events for contemporary China, is a milestone for China's efforts for globalization. ‘One World, One Dream’, the motto of the Beijing Olympic Games, is an embodiment of the encounter between Chinese culture and Western civilization, and a symbol of integration between China and the rest of the world. This Special Section seeks to address the psychosocial ramifications of the Beijing Olympic Games and, thereby, to shed light on China's domestic situation and its international relations from a social psychological perspective. Moving beyond the psychology of athletic excellence, the four papers included use a wide range of methods, ranging from longitudinal tracking to priming, to examining self-construal and volunteering, to representations of China's past and future, competition towards foreigners, and perceived intercultural differences. Consistently found across the papers, patriotism was associated with ingroup cohesion, whereas nationalism was associated with competition and differentiation towards outgroups. This Special Section thereby pays tribute to the social psychological significance of the Beijing Olympic Games to China and the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate whether and how the Beijing Olympic Games influenced the Chinese competitiveness towards foreigners, we conducted a three-wave longitudinal study and found that participants' competitiveness towards foreigners from five comparison target nations, particularly towards Japanese, South Koreans and Kenyans, was higher during the Games than before and/or after. We further found that nationalism predicted the competitiveness toward Japanese and South Koreans, but did not predict the competitiveness toward Americans, Russians and Kenyans. Additionally, we found that patriotism played little role in the effects of the Games on competitiveness towards foreigners. We herein discuss the relationship between national comparisons, nationalism and national conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the mediated cultural politics of the Beijing Olympics through analysis of selected Australian print, online and television coverage. It demonstrates that media coverage of major sports events such as the Olympics is linked to the particular concerns of each country, while also displaying elements of internationalism and globalism. The 2008 games provided an opportunity to 'interrogate' the current condition and trajectory of China, creating a very mixed picture of a nation wishing to use the games to symbolize its increasingly prominent place in world economics, politics and sport, but inducing considerable resistance to its projected image among the Australian press, as well as some robust defences of its achievements. Ultimately, the Beijing Olympics revealed (despite the familiar catchcry that sport and politics should be separated) a battle of narratives that saw, for example, Chinese nationalism and global engagement pitted against international defensive positioning and global scepticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers whether China can emerge from the global economic crisis with its current policies vindicated and its social order intact. Or will the Chinese development model fail to cope? Will the socio-economic situation and the ever-present, deeply held fear of turmoil force Beijing to resort to whipping up nationalism and adopting an aggressive economic and political stance abroad? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the transformation of China brought about by its sophisticated diplomatic strategy. The country has developed a style of diplomacy and soft power that is a sharp break from its own past and from the U.S. model of influence. Beijing tightened its controls over society and created a new nationalism designed to inculcate pride in the state. Beijing ties its efforts into a win-win set of values, the idea that China is growing into a power but supports a world in which nations do not interfere in other nations' affairs. The country's diplomacy also displays pragmatism unthinkable to a more ideological generation of leaders.

This article describes the motives behind the making of the current status-quo and risk-averse Chinese foreign policy. It identifies a three-P incentive structure that is based on the political preservation of the CCP regime, China's economic prosperity, and Beijing's pursuit of power and prestige. These three motives are stable and overlapping, featuring Taiwan and the relationship with the United States as the key issues. Beijing is expected to be motivated by these peculiar motives over the next two decades; but new internal and external developments may greatly change these motives and generate new impetus for China's foreign policy. Although the official line in Beijing is still the mild ‘peaceful development’, after a fling with the more majestic idea of ‘peaceful rise’, the rise of nationalist emotions and demands in the PRC continues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how Beijing presented an Olympic bid that not only won the city the right to host the Olympic Games, but also served to increase the legitimacy of the IOC. Through discourse analysis, it is shown how Beijing was depicted as a natural choice for the next Olympic host city. Certain notions of time and space were fundamental in this presentation. The meanings of concepts related to time and space were determined by their oppositions — 'modernity' was defined in relation to 'underdevelopment', 'the new' was describes in relation to 'the old', and 'the West' was opposed to 'the Orient'. Beijing was constructed as an Olympic city within the context of two strongly modernist ideologies of the Chinese government and the Olympic Movement. 'Olympism' was portrayed as Ihe driving force behind modernity and associated with universalism, the new and the Western world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]