Nationalism and Politics in Asian Sinicization: From Fukoku Kyohei to Chinese Soft Power

Abstract

This research work, taking as a reference the sinicization process/theory and its effect on the eastern geographical periphery of China to, based on its three historiographical aspects, focus on its political, nationalist and cultural identity influence proposes: 1. Review the emergence and Japaneseization of the Chinese slogan “Rich country, strong army” (known by its Japanese version Fukoku Kyohei). 2. Assess its impact and analyze the origins of the geopolitical and geostrategic concept of “East Asia” and the current reflection on the paradoxes of today's China, its multilateralism and the mode of activation and execution of the term Soft Power as a resource in global Sinization. 3. Echoing the innovative term of “Hualish” as a current conceptual framework for understanding the distinctive Chinese cultural identity. The results evaluate the sinicization process to understand the global news and, especially, the Chinese inertia in its process of consolidation as a world power. Nods to the past and adaptations of these ancient formulas to the contemporary context are discovered, among them, the value of the expansion of the Chinese language as a tool of sinicization. With this, an analysis from ethnosymbolism is proposed that fosters a better hermeneutics of sinity as an identity construct.