Fellow Explores Identity-Security Link in China
Wilson Center Fellow William Callahan is pulling examples from history, geography, and culture for his new book on how China's insecurities are shaping its national identity.
Who is China? This question is fundamental to the internal debate among Chinese elites as they grapple with national identity which, in turn, affects policy decisions. Wilson Center Fellow William A. Callahan argues that culture and history are intimately linked to China's current foreign policy outlook.
Callahan's book project analyzes how history, geography, and ethnicity shape China's relations with the world. "To understand this, we must look at how China relates to itself," he said. "China's national security is closely tied to its national insecurities."
One such insecurity is its shame over lost territory. Callahan cited "national humiliation maps" that outline historical China's imperial boundaries juxtaposed with present-day borders. "These maps, which are produced for public consumption, narrate how China lost territory to imperialist invaders in the 19th century—especially Taiwan to Japan and the North and West to Russia," said Callahan. "China lost a large chunk of territory. The humiliation—and how to cleanse it—is an important point that shapes China's nationalism and pride."
In fact, most demonstrations in China about any given problem usually have a historical aspect, he said, such as in 1999, when the United States bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, which was viewed in China as a humiliation similar to those of a century ago at the hands of the West.
"Idealized versions of China's imperial past are now inspiring Chinese scholars' and policymakers' plans for China's future—and the world's future—in ways that challenge the international system," said Callahan. This makes the study of identity politics all the more critical.
China and Japan, for example, have close economic relations but cool social and political ties. Callahan said, "China relates to Japan as an evil state, recalling World War II atrocities, such as the Nanjing massacre, and this memory has taken over the relationship."
Chinese themes of harmony, unity, and stability resonate in political policy, inside think tanks, and also in the culture. A recent book by a well-known Chinese philosopher, for example, discusses how China would shape the world by studying China's hierarchical world order and other political concepts. China's global role is also a theme in popular culture productions such as Zhang Yimou's blockbuster film, Hero.
"This is important because foreign policy doesn't just come out of the government ministries but also from a basic social sense of how people define national identity, often against other national identities," said Callahan.
In researching this project, Callahan is reading Chinese-language texts, including Chinese articles in web databases, to discern the debates within China from early 20th century until the present day, arguments not typically found in the Western press.
Callahan has taught international politics for 11 years in the United Kingdom, most recently at the University of Manchester. As a Wilson Center fellow, in the spirit of the Center's mission to unite history and policy, Callahan seeks to illustrate that ancient Chinese concepts have become an integral part of China's current international relations discourse.
