The Origins of the Chinese Idea of Nationality and Their Perception of Others

In the contemporary era of globalization, the People’s Republic of China—unlike many non-Western countries—has succeeded in rendering its national culture increasingly assertive, institutionalized, and transmittable. Whilst the majority of contemporary nation-states have gradually adopted pluralism or multiculturalism, China has pursued a markedly divergent trajectory. Instead of embracing diversity, China has sought to reshape its inherently pluralistic and multicultural and multinational social landscape into a unified, single-nation and single-culture framework. In doing so, it has, at times, disregarded its own legal provisions as well as universal legal norms and values. Within this context, the PRC’s persistent implementation of zero-tolerance policies towards cultural, ethnic, and ideological difference has attracted mounting international criticism and intensified scholarly debate. The present chapter seeks to address the following core questions: What are the historical roots of the ideological mindset that has shaped China’s contemporary ethnic, cultural, religious and racial policies? In what ways can the exclusion, marginalisation and Assimilation of non-Han populations within China, and the promotion of a Han-centric ideology internationally, be interpreted as indicative of a consistent civilisational worldview in China? Finally, why does state-controlled media contribute to the marginalisation of non-Han and non-Chinese identities?