ABSTRACT
Chinese perceptions of security threats are grounded to a great extent in the theme of foreign humiliation dating back to the late Qing dynasty in the nineteenth century. At this time, Western and Japanese influence began to encroach on Chinese authority by using force to protect interests such as opium imports. The trading war from 1839 to 1842 between Britain and China ended with the Treaty of Nanjing which forced China to cede Hong Kong to Britain, pay war reparations, and which introduced the unequal treaty system placing British citizens under British jurisdiction. The weakening of China’s central government allowed for internal uprisings that left the Qing dynasty without any means to control Chinese territory. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Sino-Japanese hostilities broke out. Japan won the 1894-5 war over Korea and forced China to cede Taiwan, revealing China’s weakness in the face of a rising power. Japan’s attack on Chinese troops in Manchuria in 1931 resulted in the creation of the Japanese state Manchukuo and Japan’s invasion of northern China in 1937. Manchurian soldiers, armed civilians and Chinese communists formed the core of Chinese resistance, allowing Mao Zedong to consolidate himself as the leader of the communists. Japan’s defeat in 1945 was followed by civil war in China. Kuomingtan fled to Taiwan and the communists proclaimed the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Mao Zedong’s rise to power signified the end of foreign encroachments on Chinese territory.
