China’s State-Party Nationalism: seeking wealth and power under China’s Dream of Great Rejuvenation | O Nacionalismo do Estado-partido da China: a procura por riqueza e poder no contexto do Sonho Chinês de Grande Rejuvenescimento

As economic growth fades, China resorts to nationalism to maintain the regime’s legitimacy and popular support. But Contemporary Chinese nationalism is multifaceted and also embedded in the historical processes that led China to face foreign expansionism and its own backwardness. For this reason, the quest for wealth and power is a permanent force that guides Chinese nationalism. In this article, I lay out the foundations of Chinese nationalism of the late-nineteenth and the first decades of the twentieth centuries. This is followed by the analysis of Chinese nationalism under the CCP rule since 1949, and a final section in which I identify the main trends in contemporary Chinese state-party nationalism. With present-day wealth and power, the CCP and the Chinese society believe it is time to restore China’s “rightful place” in the world. Stateparty nationalism is reshaping the past to project the future, but it is not a fait accompli.