Rising nationalism in China and Japan, seemingly similar but in actuality of different hues, has exacerbated tensions between the two nations. Alice Ekman and Celine Pajon from the French Institute of International Relations will show that although nationalism currently remains constrained in both nations, it will only increase the likelihood of conflict in the future.

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The nationalist factor has emerged as an important component of the frictions between China and Japan in the recent years. Chinese and Japanese nationalisms are often seen as mirror images of each other, but they actually cover different realities and issues. In China, the issue is one of the political use of popular nationalism by government elites, along with the impact of public opinion in the foreign policy decision-making process. What stands out in Japan, on the other hand, is the concern about a supposed rise of political nationalism, embodied by Shinzo Abe since December 2012, and its implications for foreign and defense policy.

Alice Ekman and Celine Pajon from  the French Institute of International Relations will show that the rising nationalism is still under constraint: in China, the Party is controlling and even repressing anti-Japanese demonstrations as soon as it risks getting out of hand; in Japan, the pacifist public opinion and democratic safeguards tend to moderate the top-down neo-nationalist stance. Despite these limitations, nationalism and mounting strategic rivalry nationalism are coalescing with increasingly antagonistic views so as to reinforce security dilemmas.