scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

A region of their making:visions of regional orders and paths to peace making in northeast Asia

01 Jan 2006-
About: The article was published on 2006-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 17 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Vision.
Citations
More filters
Journal Article
TL;DR: Gries as discussed by the authors argues from a social psychological point of view that Chinese identity "evolves in dynamic relationship with other nations and the past" and "involves both the Chinese people and other passions".
Abstract: China's New Nationalism: Pride, Politics, and Diplomacy, by Peter Hayes Gries. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. x + 215 pp. US$24.95/£15.95 (hardcover). The aim of this book, as stated in the Introduction, is to present a balanced view of "China's new nationalism", "one that acknowledges its legitimate grievances and recognizes its potential dangers" (p. 12). It argues from a social psychological point of view that Chinese identity "evolves in dynamic relationship with other nations and the past" and "involves both the Chinese people and other passions" (p. 19). These interrelated arguments are intended not only to challenge what the author calls "the dominant Western interpretation of Chinese nationalism" and the "West's state-centric view of Chinese nationalism" but also to draw attention to the dangers of China-bashing in the US and America-bashing in China. "Nationalism" in this book refers to "any behavior designed to restore, maintain, or advance public images" of a national community (p. 9). What seems to make "China's new nationalism" new is its "genuine popularity" and "independent existence". This conclusion is based on the evidence that Chinese nationalism increasingly challenges the Party-state; that the Chinese, like all peoples, have deep-seated emotional attachments to their national identity; and that Chinese public opinion now plays a role in national politics. Another new feature of today's Chinese nationalism is the way in which it constructs narratives of a "century of humiliation". The national narrative of heroism and victory that served the requirements of Communist revolutionaries and nation-building goals under Mao are now superseded by a new and popular victimization narrative that blames the West, including Japan, for China's suffering. It is not immediately clear in the book why long-suppressed memories of past suffering resurfaced in the 1990s, but this seems to have much to do with a psychological need to return continually to unresolved traumas in the hope of mastering them. These themes are developed through an examination of nationalist writings-mostly by Chinese intellectuals-and the official and popular responses to a number of well-known events in the 1990s and more recently. Chapter 1 looks at the protests in 1999 in the wake of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. Chapter 2 discusses the ways that Chinese national identity is shaped in a dialogic process of comparison with and distinction from the US and Japan. Chapter 3 turns to the effect of Chinese visions of the "century of humiliation" on their self-image, as well as the impact of changes to their national identity on Chinese views of the century. Chapters 4 and 5 revisit Chinese views of the US and Japan, although this time the focus shifts to writings about past and future Sino-American and Sino-Japanese relations. In Chapter 6-probably the most substantive and interesting chapter-Gries explores the motivation of Chinese nationalists, focusing on China's apology diplomacy. Chapters 7 and 8 can be thought of as a conclusion in two parts, in that they pull together and highlight once again some of the book's main themes. The book does an admirable job in demonstrating that the way US policymakers and commentators talk about China dangerously distorts US interpretations of, and responses to, Chinese policies and actions, and influences Chinese understandings of the US. It also shows convincingly that anti-American and anti-Chinese polemics easily spiral into mutual dehumanization and demonization and thus lay the foundations for violent conflict. A no less significant contribution the book makes is its perspective on Chinese nationalism. Central to Gries' perception is the concept of face-so much so that he has consistently italicized the word in the book. What he means by face is not simply the figurative self shown to others but also a prerequisite for maintaining authority and the ability to pursue instrumental goals. …

89 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors ask whether it is more likely that China's economy will grow to be as large as the US economy or the US will always stay larger than China's.
Abstract: Questionnaire Q1. Do you think that it is more likely that someday China's economy will grow to be as large as the US economy or that the US economy will always stay larger than China's? China's economy will grow as large as the US economy The US economy will always stay larger than China's Not sure/ Decline (%) (%) Q2. If China's economy were to grow to be as large as the US economy, do you think that would be mostly positive, mostly negative, or equally positive and negative?

85 citations

Book
22 May 2014
TL;DR: The contribution of the ASEAN/Chinese way to the long peace of East Asia Developmentalism and the prevention of the onset of conflicts is discussed in this article. But the main argument is not the long-term stability of the region.
Abstract: Contents: Preface Aim and concepts Theoretical premises of the argument The phenomenon to be explained: the long peace of East Asia The main argument: the contribution of the ASEAN/Chinese way to the long peace of East Asia Developmentalism and the prevention of the onset of conflicts Non-intervention and the prevention of the escalation of conflicts into wars Face saving and the termination of conflicts Generation of the successful ASEAN/Chinese approach Will the long peace survive? How could it be made broader, positive and more sustainable? What can the East Asian experience offer to theories of international relations, peace and conflicts? Bibliography Index

48 citations

References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the hierarchy of U.S. foreign policy concerns, apart from occasional mini-crises that bubble up to the front pages, North Korea is far down the list of priorities and generally off the daily radar screen of top-level decision-makers as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: With the possible exception of the Middle East, it is difficult to disagree with former Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord's view that the Korea problem is "perhaps the most urgent security challenge facing the administration anywhere in the world."' The growing famine in the North, the defection of chief ideologist Hwang Jang Yop, and the ongoing military confrontation are three among several issues with the potential to erupt into a major crisis with a dramatic impact on regional security at any given moment. A collapse in North Korea involving military conflict would have an enormous impact on the U.S. strategic posture in East Asia and quite possibly the Clinton presidency itself. Yet in the hierarchy of U.S. foreign policy concerns, apart from occasional mini-crises that bubble up to the front pages, North Korea is far down the list of priorities and generally off the daily radar screen of top-level decision-makers. Managing the inevitable transformation of the Korean Peninsula looms as a challenge for the second Clinton administration far out of proportion to the amount of sustained attention it receives. During President Clinton's first term, diplomacy toward the Korean Peninsula was defined principally as a nuclear problem. The result, after a series of crises, was the October 1994 "Agreed Framework" (AF) between the U.S. and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in which Pyongyang agreed to freeze and eventually dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for two proliferation-resistant Light Water Reactors (LWRs) and other blandishments. The struggle of filling in the details need-

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors empirically identified the diverging gap between the pessimistic predictions about the future of Northeast Asia made by the mainstream IR analysts and scholars during the post-Cold War era and the reality of the past 15 years, which has been relatively wellcoordinated, cooperative, and surprisingly peaceful.
Abstract: The main argument of this article is that most structure-oriented IR predictions about the future of Northeast Asia in the aftermath of the Cold War have been overwhelmingly pessimistic, thereby projecting a tragic regional order. They have failed to assess the progressive trends of regional interactions, mainly because their projections were blinded by the structure-oriented theoretical conjectures. My paper has three objectives: First, I attempt to empirically identify the diverging gap between the pessimistic predictions about the future of Northeast Asia made by the mainstream IR analysts and scholars during the post-Cold War era and the reality of the past 15 years, which has been relatively well-coordinated, cooperative, and surprisingly peaceful. I unpack the logical structure of these predictions and theoretically explain the reasons why there has been an increasing gap between the two. Second, I argue that conventional arguments about the future of Northeast Asia tend to overemphasize a ...

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the post-Tiananmen crisis, the U.S. has become a major threat to China's political system, national independence, and status aspirations while at the same time achieving the economic and defense benefits as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Chinese have always had mixed feelings about America. The 1989 Tiananmen crisis has not led to an overhaul of China's policy toward the United States, but it did bring the policy into its sharpest focus since the rapprochement between the two countries in the early 1970s. Post-Tiananmen policies toward the U.S. focus on three central issues, all of which predate the 1989 crisis and reflect a fundamental dilemma in Chinese foreign policy. The first issue concerns the risks to China's political autonomy and domestic stability stemming from its close economic ties to the United States. The second involves Beijing's reassessment of its strategic environment and its devaluation of the importance of the U.S. in the regional balance of power. Underlying the first two issues is a third one, the rise of Chinese nationalism, which has gradually become the most controversial and problematic aspect of China's American policy. Together, these issues constitute a conundrum for Chinese leaders: how to assess the costs and benefits of dealing with a nation that is vital to China's economic modernization and future global role but whose values pose a major threat to the legitimacy of the Chinese government. In this regard, the fundamental challenge to China's American policy in the post-Cold War era is to find strategies compatible with maintaining China's political system, national independence, and status aspirations while at the same time achieving the economic and defense

5 citations


"A region of their making:visions of..." refers background in this paper

  • ...“15th CPC Congress: Succeeding and Developing Deng Xiaoping Theory”, Beijing Review, October 6-12, 1997, pp.4....

    [...]

  • ...416 Jiang Zemin quoted in “Jaing interviewed by French, US Media” 417“15th CPC Congress: Succeeding and Developing Deng Xiaoping Theory”, Beijing Review, October 6-12, 1997, pp.4....

    [...]

  • ...416 Jiang Zemin quoted in “Jaing interviewed by French, US Media” (417)“15 CPC Congress: Succeeding and Developing Deng Xiaoping Theory”, Beijing Review, October 6-12, 1997, pp.4. 418 Kent Calder and Min Ye, “Regionalism and Critical Junctures: Explaining the ‘Organization Gap’ in Northeast Asia,” Journal of East Asian Studies, Vol. 4 (2004), pp....

    [...]

DOI
01 Mar 1991
TL;DR: The authors examines Japan's recent debate over its policy in the Persian Gulf crisis and examines five competing schools of thought that shaped the national debate among Japanese opinion leaders, concluding that a new foreign policy paradigm will eventually emerge from the ongoing debate among the contending schools of opinion identified by the author.
Abstract: Japan’s dramatic ascent to the status of economic superpower raises significant questions about how it will wield the broader global influence ordinarily conferred by wealth Its emergence as an economic leader coincides with the demise of the cold war Taken together, these trends alter the basis of the long-standing US-Japan relationship While the security partnership is likely to continue as a force for regional stability in the post-cold war environment, it is simply natural that a prosperous, self-confident Japan will begin to assert an independent voice in international affairs In this study the author examines Japan’s recent debate over its policy in the Persian Gulf crisis Particular attention is given to five competing schools of thought that shaped the national debate among Japanese opinion leaders Although Japan’s response to the Gulf crisis was marked by a series of false starts and confusion, it is likely that a new foreign policy paradigm will eventually emerge from the ongoing debate among the contending schools of thought identified by the author

4 citations