Despite Beijing's apparent hand in stoking the 2012 anti-Japan protests (pictured above), the violent riots that broke out across the country spun far beyond the government's control.
Chinese nationalism is once again on the rise. From the public military spectacle of the Oct. 1 National Day parade to a recent slew of boycotts against foreign firms for their perceived support of Hong Kong protests , a burst of patriotic fervor has increasingly made its way into China's state policies, public behaviors and business decisions. It's no coincidence that this chauvinist surge has occurred in tandem with Beijing's increasing strategic and ideological clashes with the United States and its allies over democracy and human rights issues in places like Hong Kong and Tibet. Today, Chinese patriotism can be characterized as an uneasy relationship between the population's feelings of pride, hope and anxiety about the country's future, as well as a deep ambivalence toward the West.
