11 Chosen Traumas: China’s Everlasting Century of Humiliation and Sino-European Relations
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Jasper Roctus
Abstract
The 110 years between the start of the first Opium War in 1839 and the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 are commonly identified as the ‘Century of (National) Humiliation’. Despite the removal before and after 1949 of the humiliations that had been suffered, the narrative of this century of trauma has undergone a revival in China since the early 1990s. Against the background of top-down strategic nationalist narratives on the Century of Humiliation primarily constructed around the US and Japan, the chapter addresses the absence of the EU in China’s narrative of humiliation. Given the fact that while the EU itself did not exist at the time, major member states were primary actors in the Century of Humiliation, and that the EU and its member states have increasingly engaged in actions that from the perspective of China might be seen as reminiscent of those during the Century of Humiliation, the exclusion of Europe from current narratives appears a deliberate strategic choice. The chapter argues that strategic narratives may be strategic not only in what they say but also in what they do not say.
Abstract
The 110 years between the start of the first Opium War in 1839 and the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 are commonly identified as the ‘Century of (National) Humiliation’. Despite the removal before and after 1949 of the humiliations that had been suffered, the narrative of this century of trauma has undergone a revival in China since the early 1990s. Against the background of top-down strategic nationalist narratives on the Century of Humiliation primarily constructed around the US and Japan, the chapter addresses the absence of the EU in China’s narrative of humiliation. Given the fact that while the EU itself did not exist at the time, major member states were primary actors in the Century of Humiliation, and that the EU and its member states have increasingly engaged in actions that from the perspective of China might be seen as reminiscent of those during the Century of Humiliation, the exclusion of Europe from current narratives appears a deliberate strategic choice. The chapter argues that strategic narratives may be strategic not only in what they say but also in what they do not say.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Tables vii
- Notes on Contributors ix
- Preface xii
- Introduction: Narrative and Europe–China Relations 1
- The Return of Security: Shifting Perceptions of the State(craft) in UK–China Relations 17
- Clashing Narratives over Italy’s Adhesion to the Belt and Road Initiative: A Critical Discourse Analysis Approach 36
- The ‘Iron Friendship’ and the ‘Long and Winding Road’: Narrating Sino-Serbian Relations on the Borders of the EU 57
- The Unicorn, the Dragon and the Storytellers: Comparing Praxes of Narrating China in EU Foreign Policy 75
- China, Europe and Dual Circulation: Emerging Narratives of China’s New Economic Model 93
- The Politics of Human Rights between China and the EU 113
- The Narratives of Counterterrorism and the Prospects of EU–China Security Cooperation 132
- The Role of Science and Technology in UK Narratives about China: The Case of Synthetic Biology 154
- From Academic Partner to ‘Academic Threat’: German and UK Media Framing of European–Chinese Academic Cooperation since Xi Jinping Came to Power 173
- Exploring the Limits of Soft Power: Sentiments and Narratives on China in Turkish Social Media and Political Speeches of Elites 199
- Chosen Traumas: China’s Everlasting Century of Humiliation and Sino-European Relations 225
- The Weight of History: Competing Narratives in the Context of a Rising China 244
- Conclusion: Narratives and China–Europe Relations 264
- Index 273
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Tables vii
- Notes on Contributors ix
- Preface xii
- Introduction: Narrative and Europe–China Relations 1
- The Return of Security: Shifting Perceptions of the State(craft) in UK–China Relations 17
- Clashing Narratives over Italy’s Adhesion to the Belt and Road Initiative: A Critical Discourse Analysis Approach 36
- The ‘Iron Friendship’ and the ‘Long and Winding Road’: Narrating Sino-Serbian Relations on the Borders of the EU 57
- The Unicorn, the Dragon and the Storytellers: Comparing Praxes of Narrating China in EU Foreign Policy 75
- China, Europe and Dual Circulation: Emerging Narratives of China’s New Economic Model 93
- The Politics of Human Rights between China and the EU 113
- The Narratives of Counterterrorism and the Prospects of EU–China Security Cooperation 132
- The Role of Science and Technology in UK Narratives about China: The Case of Synthetic Biology 154
- From Academic Partner to ‘Academic Threat’: German and UK Media Framing of European–Chinese Academic Cooperation since Xi Jinping Came to Power 173
- Exploring the Limits of Soft Power: Sentiments and Narratives on China in Turkish Social Media and Political Speeches of Elites 199
- Chosen Traumas: China’s Everlasting Century of Humiliation and Sino-European Relations 225
- The Weight of History: Competing Narratives in the Context of a Rising China 244
- Conclusion: Narratives and China–Europe Relations 264
- Index 273
