ABSTRACT
The question of China’s rising nationalism is at the forefront of China watchers’ mind worldwide. The extent of Chinese nationalism and its potential influence on China’s foreign policy is closely related to how other countries – particularly America – view China in the context of her rise to become the world’s next super power. In a policy report drawn by the CATO Institute in Washington, analysts outlined two camps of dividing opinion on how China is perceived, and how America should react to the rise of China – the optimists of ‘panda huggers’, on the one hand, and the pessimists of ‘dragon slayers’, on the other hand (Logan 2013). They fundamentally disagree over the impact of China’s economic growth on its foreign policy and security goals: the optimists usually turn towards mod ernisation theory and democratic peace theory to argue that continued economic growth will foster a strong middle class, which will in turn help the establishment of a democracy, and we will gain peace because war between two democratic states is unlikely. The pessimists believe China will eventually assert its economic and military supremacy to expand, which will inevitably come into conflict with today’s existing world powers.
