Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T10:04:07.091Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Proscribing the “Spiritually Japanese”: Nationalist Indignation, Authoritarian Responsiveness and Regime Legitimation in China Today

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2020

Peter Gries  and
Yi Wang Open the ORCID record for Yi Wang [Opens in a new window]
Peter Gries*
Affiliation:
Manchester China Institute, University of Manchester
Yi Wang
Affiliation:
Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University. Email: [email protected].
*
Email: [email protected] (corresponding author).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In spring 2018 China, indignant popular nationalists demanded that the “spiritually Japanese” activities of a fringe group of young Chinese who figure themselves as Japanese be proscribed. The National People's Congress quickly complied, passing legislation that made it illegal to “beautify the war of invasion.” Exploring how and why the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responded to the demands of popular nationalists, we suggest that authoritarian representation occurs in China even beyond the bounds of everyday apolitical issues like education and healthcare. Indeed, because the CCP relies upon a nationalist claim to legitimate rule, authoritarian legislators may respond to the public on politically sensitive issues like nationalism as well. Journalists and lawyers, furthermore, can play a vital mediating role between elites and masses, facilitating the transmission of the information and expertise needed for authoritarian responsiveness. Implications for our understanding of Chinese nationalism, authoritarian responsiveness and state legitimation in China today are discussed.

摘要

摘要

2018年春天，愤怒的中国民族主义者要求政府禁止“精神日本人” —— 一个由自认为是日本人的年轻中国人组成的边缘群体 —— 的有关行为。全国人大迅速予以应允，通过了相关立法禁止“美化侵略战争”。本文考察了中国国家怎样以及为什么回应了民族主义者的要求。我们认为中国的威权代表甚至超出了教育、医疗等非政治日常议题的边界。因为中国共产党依靠民族主义合法化其统治，威权的立法机构可能在像民族主义这样关系到合法性的敏感议题上扮演其代表角色。此外，记者和律师也可以在精英和大众之间扮演关键的中介角色，以推动威权响应所需要的信息和专业知识的传播。我们也讨论了本研究对于理解今日中国的民族主义、威权响应以及合法化的意义。

Keywords

Chinese nationalismSino-Japanese relationsauthoritarian responsivenessauthoritarian representationintermediary groupsauthoritarian legitimation中国民族主义中日关系威权响应威权代表中间团体威权合法化
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 245 , March 2021 , pp. 122 - 141
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Author names are listed alphabetically; each contributed equally.

References

An, Ying, Wei, Lu, Cen, Xu, Yuling, Xie, Hongyan, Xu, Yuansen, Gu and Jie, Zhao. 2018. “‘JingRi’ fenzi zaisan tiaozhan minzu dixian daibiao weiyuan huyu lifa yancheng” (“Spiritually Japanese” repeatedly challenge national bottom line, deputies and members call for strict punishment by legislation). Modern Express, 6 March, http://dz.xdkb.net/html/2018-03/06/content_482587.htm. Accessed 21 June 2019.Google Scholar
Boix, Carles, and Svolik, Milan. 2013. “The foundations of limited authoritarian government: institutions and power-sharing in dictatorships.” Journal of Politics 75(2), 300–316.10.1017/S0022381613000029CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, Marilynn B. 2001. “Ingroup identification and intergroup conflict: when does ingroup love become outgroup hate?” In Ashmore, Richard D., Jussim, Lee and Wilder, David (eds.), Social Identity, Intergroup Conflict, and Conflict Resolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 17–41.Google Scholar
Cairns, Christopher, and Carlson, Allen. 2016. “Real-world islands in a social media sea: nationalism and censorship on Weibo during the 2012 Diaoyu/Senkaku crisis.” The China Quarterly 225, 23–49.10.1017/S0305741015001708CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrico, Kevin. 2017. The Great Han: Race, Nationalism, and Tradition in China Today. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.10.1525/california/9780520295490.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dimitrov, Martin K. 2015. “Internal government assessments of the quality of governance in China.” Studies in Comparative International Development 50(1), 50–72.10.1007/s12116-014-9170-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Distelhorst, Greg. 2019. “Review of Rory Truex, Making Autocracy Work: Representation and Responsiveness in Modern China.” Journal of Chinese Political Science 24(2), 361–64.10.1007/s11366-018-09601-yCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Distelhorst, Greg, and Fu, Diana. 2019. “Performing authoritarian citizenship: public transcripts in China.” Perspectives on Politics 17(1), 106–121.10.1017/S1537592718004024CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dong, Xin. 2018. “‘JingRi’ ruxing diyi ti'anren He Yun'ao: kai wanxiao he wuru xingwei you benzhi qubie” (He Yun'ao, first proposer of criminalizing jingRi: making jokes and insulting behaviour are fundamentally different). The Paper, 10 March, https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2024201. Accessed 21 June 2019.Google Scholar
Gandhi, Jennifer. 2008. Political Institutions under Dictatorship. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511510090CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gries, Peter H. 2004. China's New Nationalism: Pride, Politics, and Diplomacy. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Gries, Peter H., Steiger, Derek and Wang, Tao. 2016. “Popular nationalism and China's Japan policy: the Diaoyu Islands protests, 2012–2013.” Journal of Contemporary China 25(98), 264–276.10.1080/10670564.2015.1075714CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gu, Xin, and Wang, Xu. 2005. “Cong guojiazhuyi dao fatuanzhuyi: Zhongguo shichang zhuanxing guochengzhong guojia yu zhuanye tuanti guanxi de yanbian” (From statism to corporatism: changes in the relationship between the state and professional associations in the transition of market economics in China.” Shehuixue yanjiu 2, 155–175.Google Scholar
He, Baogang. 1997. The Democratic Implications of Civil Society in China. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-1-349-25574-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heurlin, Christopher. 2016. Responsive Authoritarianism in China: Land, Protests, and Policy Making. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781316443019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ho, Peter. 2008. “Self-imposed censorship and de-politicized politics in China: green activism or a color revolution.” In Ho, Peter and Edmonds, Richard Louis (eds.), China's Embedded Activism: Opportunities and Constraints of a Social Movement. London: Routledge, 20–43.Google Scholar
Kornreich, Yoel. 2019. “Authoritarian responsiveness: online consultation with ‘issue publics’ in China.” Governance 32(3), 547–564.10.1111/gove.12393CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linz, Juan J. 2000. Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Liu, Yujing. 2018. “Chinese movie star Jackie Chan in push for law to ‘protect national dignity’.” South China Morning Post, 9 March, https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2136562/chinese-movie-star-jackie-chan-push-law-protect-national-dignity. Accessed 21 June 2019.Google Scholar
Lorentzen, Peter. 2014. “China's strategic censorship.” American Journal of Political Science 58(2), 402–414.10.1111/ajps.12065CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorentzen, Peter. 2017. “Designing contentious politics in post-1989 China.” Modern China 43(5), 459–493.10.1177/0097700416688895CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mertha, Andrew. 2009. “Fragmented authoritarianism 2.0: political pluralization of the Chinese policy process.” The China Quarterly 200, 1–18.10.1017/S0305741009990592CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nie, Hongping Annie. 2013. “Gaming, nationalism, and ideological work in contemporary China: online games based on the War of Resistance against Japan.” Journal of Contemporary China 22(81), 499–517.10.1080/10670564.2012.748968CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reuter, Ora John, and Robertson, Graeme B.. 2015. “Legislatures, cooptation, and social protest in contemporary authoritarian regimes.” The Journal of Politics 77(1), 235–248.10.1086/678390CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saich, Tony. 2000. “Negotiating the state: the development of social organizations in China.” The China Quarterly 161, 124–141.10.1017/S0305741000003969CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shue, Vivienne. 2010. “Legitimacy crisis in China?” In Gries, Peter Hays and Rosen, Stanley (eds.), Chinese Politics: State, Society and the Market. London: Routledge, 41–68.Google Scholar
Teets, Jessica. 2013. “Let many civil societies bloom: the rise of consultative authoritarianism in China.” The China Quarterly 213, 19–38.10.1017/S0305741012001269CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teets, Jessica. 2017. “The power of policy networks in authoritarian regimes: changing environmental policy in China.” Governance 31(1), 125–141.10.1111/gove.12280CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Truex, Rory. 2016. Making Autocracy Work: Representation and Responsiveness in Modern China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781316771785CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Unger, Jonathan, and Chan, Anita. 1995. “China, corporatism, and the East Asian model.” The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs 33, 29–53.10.2307/2950087CrossRefGoogle Scholar
von Soest, Christian, and Grauvogel, Julia. 2017. “Identity, procedures and performance: how authoritarian regimes legitimize their rule.” Contemporary Politics 23(3), 287–305.10.1080/13569775.2017.1304319CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wakeman, Frederic. 1977. “The patriot.” In Wilson, Dick (ed.), Mao Tse-tung in the Scales of History: A Preliminary Assessment. London: Cambridge University Press, 223–245.Google Scholar
Wang, Xiaodong. 2000. “Dangdai Zhongguo minzuzhuyi lun” (On contemporary Chinese nationalism). Zhanlüe yu guanli 2000(5), 69–82.Google Scholar
Wang, Zheng. 2012. Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and Foreign Relations. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Weber, Max. 1964. The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
White, Gordan, Howell, Jude and Shang, Xiaoyuan. 1996. In Search of Civil Society: Market Reform and Social Change in Contemporary China. Oxford: Clarendon Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198289562.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zha, Rui. 2018. “Nü yanjiusheng weibo wuru bei ‘bapi’, wangyou: ‘jingRi’ kehen, ‘liangmian ren’ geng kehen” (Female graduate student's Weibo which insults China “peeled,” netizens: “double-faced person” more hateful than “spiritually Japanese”). Shanghai Observer, 22 April, https://www.jfdaily.com/news/detail?id=86978. Accessed 21 June 2019.Google Scholar
Zhao, Suisheng. 1998. “A state-led nationalism: the patriotic education campaign in post-Tiananmen China.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 31(3), 287–302.10.1016/S0967-067X(98)00009-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zheng, Chunping, Wei, Lu, Weizhou, Tao, Yuansen, Gu, Yao, Liu, Wenting, Deng and Jingjing, Ma. 2018. “Lüfa lüfan shuoming chufa taiqing! Renda daibiao huyu dui ‘jingRi’ xingjing huaming falü hongxian” (Repeated violation of law after repeated punishment means punishment too light! NPC deputies call for clear legal line on “spiritually Japanese”). Modern Express, 8 March, http://www.xdkb.net/index/article/2018-03/08/content_1086477.htm. Accessed 21 June 2019.Google Scholar
Zhou, Dongmei. 2018. “Ti'an qiantouren jiemi: sanshijiu ming weiyuan lianming huyu lifa yancheng ‘jingRi’ fenzi beihou” (Leading proposer decrypts: behind 39 members jointly calling for strictly punishing “spiritually Japanese” by legislation). Modern Express, 10 March, http://news.xdkb.net/special/2018-03/10/content_1149610.htm. Accessed 21 June 2019.Google Scholar
Zhu, Malie, and Ru, Feng. 2018. “JingRi you chuxian le! Hai ganshang Nanjing Zijinshan!” (The “spiritually Japanese” appear again! They even dare to show up on Nanjing Zijinshan!). Huanqiu.com, 21 February, http://china.huanqiu.com/article/2018-02/11612573.html?agt=61#frame_content. Accessed 21 June 2019.Google Scholar