Is Patriotism Distinct from Nationalism? The Meaning of “Patriotism” in China in the 2000s.

Since the 1990s, vigorous debate concerning a number of key issues has taken place within the study of Chinese nationalism. Scholars have tended to differentiate between diverse types of nationalism. For example, many studies distinguish between a malign nationalism on the one hand and a benign patriotism on the other. The strongest evidence for such a distinction can be found in survey research, which has demonstrated that patriotism, meaning love for the country, is empirically distinct from nationalism, i.e. the belief in the superiority of one’s country over other countries. In this paper, I take issue with this distinction. I argue that even though such surveys have contributed important insights to our understanding of Chinese national identity, the sharp distinction between patriotism and nationalism risks obfuscating the more important question of what actors are willing to do in the name of patriotism. If people are prepared to die and kill out of love for the country,the distinction between a benign patriotism and a malign nationalism cannot be so easily upheld. Based on a case study of the popular protests against Japan in China in autumn 2012, the Chinese media and government’s response, as well as the content of Chinese patriotic education, I demonstrate that the meaning of patriotism is a key aspect of Chinese identity politics, which has hitherto not been granted sufficient attention