ABSTRACT
China’s concept of the state is derived from its long history and from a culture that has claimed uniqueness and superiority over others. Amongst Chinese there is the belief in the greatness and grandeur of China and its civilisation, which becomes an object of admiration in itself. This civilisation has inculcated values that have been critical for the traditional conception of the Chinese identity and include a belief in the centralised state, the acceptance of power to establish and maintain order, a strong sense of conformity to the hierarchically arranged centralised order, and a sense of morality which governs the exercise of power.1 Above all there is the strong belief in the preservation of the unity of Chinese civilisation, and that culture and civilisation are inseparable from the centralised state that has ruled for millennia. In the context of these values the loss of Taiwan would be unthinkable and tantamount to betrayal, a feeling that often hinders discussion of the subject in Beijing. For China, Taiwan is an issue of the territorial integrity of the modern state, while another territorial problem, the South China Sea, relates to the consolidation of the borders of that state. China’s economic transformation and its adaptation to the international economy, however, has prompted the development of challenger norms of multilateralism and institutionalism in foreign policy which may reshape domestic values and the traditional concept of identity in China. If these territorial issues were resolved on the basis of cooperative norms the Asia Pacific region would be reassured of China’s role and behaviour.
