Chinese irredentist nationalism: The magician's last trick

Since the 1989 Tiananmen incident, Beijing has mounted a patriotic nationalist campaign to regain popular support by shifting its basis of legitimacy from a bankrupt ideology to nationalism. That campaign appears to be effective, especially among youth and intellectuals. The new Chinese nationalism is a troubling mix of reaction to past humiliation, a sense of being presently thwarted from achieving greatness, and irredentism. Drawing from official and popular Chinese publications, this article seeks to provide a detailed account of Chinese irredentist claims, and concludes with a brief discussion of policy implications.