ABSTRACT

The dogmatic interpretation of Chinese politics before the reform era often assumes the existence of a unitary top-down Leninist state machine run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), leaving little room for civil society and public opinions to emerge. Yet, the application of Western-developed theories to China, most unitary oriented, is sometimes ungrounded, especially when the subject of discussion is post-Deng contemporary China. Focusing on the arena of international relations, this chapter introduces what the author named the non-unitary ‘diverse publics’, including civil society and the internet community in China, and their divergent responses to contemporary Chinese nationalism and Chinese diplomacy. Although nationalism and diplomacy might not be the core focus of all pluralistic groups in China, it is one of the domains in which the agendas of different groups can be addressed in a relatively free manner. Thus, this chapter selects this domain to illustrate the concept of the diverse publics.