Making China Strong

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Introduction

   • Robert Weatherley

   Pages 1-26

3. Saving the Empire: Democracy and Rights in the Late Qing Dynasty

   • Robert Weatherley

   Pages 27-58

4. Building a New China: Democracy and Rights in the Early Republican Period (1912–28)

   • Robert Weatherley

   Pages 59-84

5. Towards Authoritarianism: Withholding Democracy and Rights for the Good of the Nation (1928–49)

   • Robert Weatherley

   Pages 85-111

6. Protecting the People’s Republic: Mass Democracy and Class Rights in the Mao and Early Post-Mao Eras

   • Robert Weatherley

   Pages 112-140

7. From Military Imperialism to Cultural Imperialism: Democracy and Rights in the Post-Mao Era

   • Robert Weatherley

   Pages 141-168

8. Conclusion

   • Robert Weatherley

   Pages 169-189

9. Back Matter

   Pages 190-216

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Robert Weatherley argues that Chinese perceptions of democracy and human rights have been heavily influenced by the pressing issue of how to make China strong in the face of a perceived threat posed by foreign imperialism, be it military imperialism during the previous two centuries and cultural imperialism in more recent decades.

• democracy
• human rights
• nationalism

• Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge, UK

  Robert Weatherley

Robert Weatherley is a Lawyer at Mills and Reeve, UK and also lectures on contemporary Chinese politics, history and international relations at the University of Cambridge, UK. He has published on topics such as the legitimation of CCP rule, the political career of Hua Guofeng and the rise of internet nationalism in China.

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