ABSTRACT
As a concept of regional alliance, Pan-Asianism has a built-in ambiguity which makes it susceptible to diverse interpretations. There are two types of "pan-" movements. One constitutes an alliance of weak states sharing a common cultural or racial background, whose relationship is based on the principle of equality. The other is built upon the domination of a group of countries by a strong power that imposes itself on others in the name of racial, cultural, and/or geographical bondage. In the late nineteenth century, Japan subscribed to the second type of Pan-Asianism built upon her strength, whereas China, as a weak country, had tended to interpret it along the lines of the first type.
