² Although a comprehensive investigation of other cases involving minority groups would have value, in this article I do not address the situations in the Guangxi Zhuang and Mongol autonomous regions due to manuscript length considerations. Further, there is a much larger body of information on Xinjiang and Tibet (and, of course, Taiwan and Hong Kong) than on Guangxi Zhuang and Inner Mongolia in the official Chinese media.

³ Shih, CY, China’s Nation Problems (Wunan Publisher, Taipei, 1999).Google Scholar

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ According to Xi, the Chinese Dream means rejuvenating China by making it prosperous and strong, thereby restoring happiness to the Chinese people. Although unspoken, the Chinese Dream assumes the inclusion of Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and at some time in the future, Taiwan. See Xi, JP, The Governance of China (Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 2014) 35–6.Google Scholar

⁶ According to international relations theory, states facing external threats have at least two choices: establishing alliances with other states in order to balance them, or making an alliance with the major external threat in order to achieve self-security. While balancing seems to have been the preferred strategy for most of history, bandwagoning has long been perceived as a viable option in cases of weak states being threatened by a great power. See Walt, S, The Origins of Alliance (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1987) 17–21, 27–32.Google Scholar

⁷ Some see scholarly considerations of tianxia thinking as evidence of a failed peaceful world paradigm, and criticise it as ‘a euphemism for Chinese hegemony’. See Dreyer, JT, ‘The “Tianxia Trope”: Will China Change the International System?’ (2015) 24(96) Journal of Contemporary China 1015CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The same group of ‘Chinese hegemony’ analysts view tianxia and Westphalian thinking as two competing principles with the same ontological goal of increasing a nation state’s power or national interests. In this article, however, I describe tianxia and Westphalian thinking as two separate ontologies.

⁸ Chih-yu Shih and Chiung-chiu Huang describe ‘balance of relationship’ (BoR) as a Chinese doctrine that considers stable bilateral relations as more important than immediate gains. However, BoR is not the same as pacifism, since Chinese benevolence can be renounced when deemed necessary to restore a desirable connection. See Shih, CY and Huang, CC, ‘China’s Quest for Grand Strategy: Power, National Interest, or Relational Security?’ (2015) 8(1) Chinese Journal of International Politics 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁹ Yin, JW, ‘Unilateral Consensus, Signal Communication and China’s Choice of Strategy’ (2014) 9 World Economics and Politics 4–33.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Ibid 10.

¹¹ The so-called ‘1992 consensus’ was confirmed by Presidents Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping when they met on 7 November 2015. Apparently neither side actually believes that a consensus on the one-China policy has been achieved.

¹² For example, Hong Kong’s interpretation of the policy emphasises the ‘two-system’ idea, while the KMT party in Taiwan is more concerned about political legitimacy as the true representative government of all China.

¹³ For example, see Shih, CY, Collective Democracy: Political and Legal Reform in China (The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, 1999).Google Scholar

¹⁴ Ibid 25.

¹⁵ Due to space limitations, I will not discuss other parts of Chinese history, for example, the Warring States Period. One anonymous reviewer notes that ‘there was also the trauma of China as a collapsed state during the Warring States Period as well as during the ill-fated Republican Era, with both periods still commonly cited in modern Chinese policy speeches’. While I agree with this observation, I also believe that the Warring States Period is representative of issues that are not the focus of this article, including moral leadership and the collapse of the Zhou dynasty’s feudal system. The Qing is a more appropriate period for this article because it was the last dynasty ruled by a non-Han ethnicity. The Qing dynasty and Republican era have much more to offer to our understanding of changing meanings of independence, autonomy, and sovereignty.

¹⁶ Callahan, W, ‘Chinese Visions of World Order: Post-hegemonic or a New Hegemony?’ (2008) 10 International Studies Review 749.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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²⁰ Ibid 69–70.

²¹ Jacques, M, When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order (Penguin Books, London, 2012).Google Scholar

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²³ Chia (n 18) 75.

²⁴ ‘Begs’ were Uighur chiefs prior to Qing control. After Xinjiang was returned to China, the term was used by the Qing court to designate recognised officials in the Uighur region. See Dani, AH and Masson, VM, History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Development in Contrast: From the Sixteenth to the Mid-Nineteenth Century (UNESCO, Paris, 2003) 203–9.Google Scholar

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³² Zhao, YL et al., ‘On Building an IR Theory System with Chinese Characteristics: Summary of Shanghai Seminar on Theory of International Relations’ (1987) 4 Contemporary International Relations 3–6.Google Scholar

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⁴² It is not my intention to reduce the four frontier areas to a single socio-political entity. However, I believe it is legitimate to use the chosen events and views to illustrate how residents in each location, especially those who express a preference for separation, express their feelings of frustration in their dealings with Han Chinese or the PRC government by resisting participation in a multilateral framework based on the one-China principle.

⁴³ Participants in the September 2014 ‘Umbrella Revolution’ in Hong Kong described their demonstration as a civil disobedience campaign. Their main claim was that they were fighting for freedoms and democratic processes promised by the Chinese government under a ‘one country, two systems’ policy that is supposed to guarantee a significant level of autonomy for 50 years. I regard the movement as emphasising institutional autonomy rather than national identity in terms of pursuing statehood, which is a central issue in the Taiwan situation. See Beech, H, ‘Hong Kong Stands up’ Time Magazine (Asia edition) (3 October 2014) available at <http://time.com/3453736/hong-kong-stands-up/>.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ There is admittedly some overlap. During the past decade, some KMT members and supporters have moved toward the DPP position.

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⁴⁶ There is linguistic competition between Mainland China and the Tibetan government-in-exile.

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⁴⁸ Chinese authorities regularly use ‘a few’ when talking about members of any ethnic group who are considered hostile to Beijing.

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⁶⁵ An increasing number of Hong Kong residents, especially below the age of 30, are expressing dissatisfaction with Beijing’s manipulation of Hong Kong government personnel and interventions into Hong Kong politics. The Umbrella Movement protests in 2014 are only one example. These individuals are especially angry about Beijing’s insistence on choosing all candidates for the 2017 Chief Executive election. The protestors view this as interfering with the right of self-governance implied by the ‘one China, two systems’ principle (see ‘Pro-Democracy Group Shifts to Collaborate with Students Protesters in Hong Kong’ New York Times (27 September 2014) available at <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/world/asia/pro-democracy-protest-in-hong-kong.html?_r=0>). However, from Beijing’s point of view, the election proposals issued by the Chinese government are the same as those for elections of the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – two examples of ‘democratic centralism’ (see Yang, LK and Yan, J, ‘Democratic Centralism and CCP’s Organizational Morphology: Analysis Based on Ecological Adaptation’ (2016) 2 Socialism Studies 80–5).Google Scholar

⁶⁶ SNP, ‘Choice: An Historic Opportunity for our Nation’ (no date) at <http://www.sermosgaliza.gal/media/sermosgaliza/files/2013/02/11/yes_-_choice.pdf> 7.

⁶⁷ Ibid 11.

⁶⁸ Discussions of how Chinese people feel about the negative opinions expressed by Hong Kong residents can be found on many website forums. See, for example, a summary of such comments in ‘Hong Kong People in the Eyes of Mainlanders’ Independent Media Hong Kong (19 December 2013) available at <http://www.inmediahk.net/node/1019683>.

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⁷⁰ See the Central News Agency’s report on 17 March 2015 at <http://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201503170201-1.aspx>; or Voice of America’s report on 18 March 2015 at <http://www.voacantonese.com/content/hk-scholar-on-anti-parallel-traders-protest/2685245.html>.

⁷¹ For an example of ‘angry youth’, note the Mong Kok clash of January 2016, a violent confrontation between protestors and local police.

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⁸⁵ See ‘“What is Taiwan’s Status Quo?” Lee Teng-hui Says: Taiwan Is Not Part of China’ United Daily News story, (18 June 2016) available at <http://udn.com/news/story/6656/1770016-%E3%80%8C%E4%BD%95%E8%AC%82%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E7%8F%BE%E7%8B%80%EF%BC%9F%E3%80%8D-%E6%9D%8E%E7%99%BB%E8%BC%9D%EF%BC%9A%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E4%B8%8D%E9%9A%B8%E5%B1%AC%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B>.

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⁸⁸ Evidence can be found in the potential alliance between the 2014 Sunflower student movement and pro-Taiwan independence supporters. The two groups cooperated to oppose KMT efforts to pass legislation on economic policy toward Mainland China without going through the standard hearings process for such proposals. Regarding connections between the student movement, Taiwan independence supporters, and anti-Chinese sentiment among Taiwanese, see Chao, K, ‘The Future of Taiwan, Now Meeting Many Obstacles: An Observation and Reflection on the Sunflower Movement’ (June 2014) 95 Taiwan: A Radical Quarterly in Social Studies 263.Google Scholar