SINGAPORE -- China, South Korea and Indonesia have seen a rise of nationalism commensurate with their increasing economic confidence. The rise in national- ism can also be traced to historical humiliations suffered by China and South Korea a century or more ago, and to Indonesia's ordeal in the Asian financial crisis (1997-98). Hurt national pride has been dictating their reactions to the West and to their neighbors.
Chinese nationalism, which is targeted primarily against the West and Japan, is driven by the defeat of Manchu dynasty-ruled China in 1895 by Japan, the Japanese Imperial Army's occupation of large parts of China in the 1930s, and the "unequal treaties" forced onto a weakened China by Western powers since the opium wars of the mid-19th century. In fact, when Beijing was given the honor of hosting the 2008 Olympics, it was celebrated as a victory with the slogan "The Chinese people have stood up again!"
The Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai Universal Exhibition aim to showcase a China that has finally arrived on the world stage. The return of Hong Kong in 1997 marked the beginning of recovering national sovereignty and dignity.