“China’s New Nationalism” by Peter Hays Gries Report

Numerous books on China have been written, which by and large portray China as an evil empire that is transforming from Communism into a Fascist state. Gries, through his book “China’s New Nationalism,” claims to offer fresh insight into the Chinese conundrum. Gries states that his book gives a view on China’s relations with the world based on the Chinese perspective, unlike other books on the subject, which portray a typically West-centric view of China. Gries argues that the two countries that matter the most to China are the US and Japan and that the evolving Chinese nationalism is in response to its interaction with these two nations. Gries covers his narrative in eight chapters with a catchy introduction titled “Panda Huggers and Dragon Slayers.”

In the introduction, Gries covers a wide range of issues associated with US-China relationships starting with a recount of the 2001 P3 collision incident. He gives examples on both sides of the political spectrum – of ‘Panda Huggers’ like Henry Kissinger who praises China and its benign intentions and ‘Dragon Slayers’ such as Nancy Pelosi, who, despite being a Democrat, sided with the Republicans who were ready to drag China over hot coals for its alleged Human Right’s violations. The ‘Dragon slayers’ hold that China’s reactive belligerence and newfound confidence in its global stature is reflected in its aggressive stance on any issue where China’s national interests are in question. This confidence is reflected in the new flavor of nationalism which has a decidedly anti-America stance. According to this lobby, China has great pride in its civilization and its Confucius-based philosophy, and Sino-centrism. The author’s original observation that “understanding the diplomatic tendency to say the opposite of what is meant helps one interpret China’s relationships with other nations (Gries 10)” is one of the gems of new insight into the workings of the Chinese mindset. Gries develops his argument by dedicating a whole chapter to the concept of ‘saving face. The author argues that the violent Chinese protests that erupted after the inadvertent bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999 by US aircraft were spontaneous upwelling of nationalist fervor of the ordinary Chinese devoid of state manipulation. The subsequent actions of both the governments to resolve the issue were more of ‘face saving’ measures, with the Chinese claiming that the bombings were intentionally carried out while the Americans are insisting that it was accidental. The author claims that this saving face formulation was more deep-seated in China, which has always felt that the historical injustices and exploitation suffered by China in the hands of the imperial powers had never been addressed satisfactorily by the West. China has always held an inimical view of Japan and has equated Japan with the ‘western devils’ who carried out heinous crimes during the Second World War, including the rape of Nanking, for which till to date, the Japanese have not tendered an unconditional apology.

Chapter 2 concentrates on ‘Chinese Identity and the West.’ The author outlines the historical shifts in Chinese attitudes towards America. He states that in the early 20^th century, the Chinese had a more benign view of America, contrary to what the Americans had about China. This soured after the Korean War, and China began to view America as a big bully. The author makes use of social psychology metaphors such as ‘Parent-Child’ complex, with China considering itself to be the Parent and America the ‘200- year old child, the ‘Teacher-Student’ complex to explain the China-America relationship and the Sagacious ‘Elder Brother’ – Truant ‘Younger Brother’ complex with China being the former and Japan being the latter to explain China-Japan relationship. According to the author, China’s identity crisis revolves around status and the need to regain it. The author recounts that Samuel P Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilizations’ thesis pleased the “Chinese nationalists, who embraced the image of China Huntington provided: “They see us as a threat! We’ve finally regained our great power status! (Gries 40)”

In chapter 3, the author focuses on the ‘Century of Humiliation,’ which was responsible for fuelling Chinese nationalism since independence. The century refers to the period of subjugation of China and its division into ‘Spheres of Influence by the Colonial powers at the turn of the century. The Chinese Communist Party used the Humiliation thesis to great advantage to whip up nationalism and steer the country in the early years after independence.

An entire chapter is devoted to the ‘Kissinger Complex’ to explain the effects of the famous period of ping pong diplomacy that was initiated by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. The author argues that Chinese nationalists today suffer from the Kissinger complex that “causes them to praise high-status foreigners who, like Kissinger, trumpet China’s rise while downplaying its flaws” (Gries 54).

In the next chapter, ‘Victors or Victims?’, Gries examines whether the Chinese nationalist’s attempt to view events in history as a victor as well as a victim is justified. According to him, the Chinese have claimed their war of resistance against the Japanese during the Second World War as a great victory as also being a victim of Japanese perfidy, especially over the issue of Senkaku islands dispute. Both rationales stir up nationalist emotions in China, and increasingly, the victimized paradigm is gaining currency with respect to China-Japan relations.

‘China’s Apology Diplomacy’ is a fascinating chapter that traces the dynamics of using apologies for past crimes as powerful tools for diplomacy. The author theorizes that the success of an apology depends upon consensus between the affected parties. The Japan-Korea apology diplomacy worked because there was consensus on both sides as to the scope and worth of the apology tendered by Japan to South Korea but failed in the case of China-Japan because of lack of consensus. The author further opines that China and Japan are still at war albeit, a war of words in which both China and Japan are fighting over their status in the evolving Asian hierarchy. Gries uses a well-known social psychology theory known as ‘intergroup attribution biases’ to explain Chinese apology diplomacy. According to the theory, members of an ‘in-group’ favor their own selves over members of an ‘out-group,’ and that explains China’s action of labeling the 1999 inadvertent bombing of the Chinese embassy by US aircraft as a ‘terrorist act.’

In the chapter ‘Popular Nationalism and the Fate of the Nation’, the author concludes that China’s new nationalism was slowly but surely emanating from the masses themselves. The ‘fourth’ generation nationalists, all in their thirties free from the revolutionary baggage of the Mao era, had learned to think for themselves. The CCP no longer had absolute control over the state or the nature of nationalism. Coulmas’ review of Gries’s book also refers to this key point by stating that Chinese nationalism “is borne by the people and their sentiments that in combination with electronic communications media are quite beyond the control of the government (para 4)”.

In the last chapter, ‘Chinese Nationalism and US-China Relations in the Twenty-First Century,’ the author urges the US, foreign policy experts, to understand the role of emotion in China’s new nationalism, understand that the new nationalist movement now has a momentum of its own, of popular nationalists outside the state control and that the United States must stay away from polemics if they wish to harmonize their relationships with China. The author disagrees with Paul Kennedy and Samuel Huntington’s theses that the US and China are bound to collide, and that conflict was inevitable. The author believes that socio-psychological theories have shown that an inclusive ‘in-group’ behavior does not necessarily translate into hostility towards an ‘out group’ and that harmony is possible. The author further goes on to add that foreign policymakers must not view US-China relations as a zero-sum game like the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

Gries’s style of writing is eminently readable as he uses simple contemporary English shorn of intellectual verbosity. The book, with its graphic illustrations, very vividly brings out the new shades of Chinese nationalism. The book undoubtedly offers fresh insight into the Chinese psyche. However, by narrowing the scope to only the US and Japan, the author gives an impression that the contours of China’s new nationalism are being affected primarily by these two countries, which is not necessarily true. China’s engagement with ASEAN, Russia, the Shanghai Cooperation, India as also its ‘cheque book’ diplomacy in Africa and the Middle East do in very large ways affect all aspects of its policies, external as well as internal, including nationalism. A mention of these other influences could have given the book a more holistic character. Nonetheless, Peter Hays Gries has contributed to a fresh look at new Chinese nationalism, a work that deserves close scrutiny by China watchers and foreign policy experts.

Works Cited

Coulmas, Florian. “China’s New Nationalism; A Force yet to be reckoned with.” 2006. Japan Times online. Web.

Gries, Peter Hays. China’s New Nationalism. Berkeley: The Regent of University of California, 2004.