RED LINES: China’s Emotional Assertiveness Against Western Non-State Actors

When Jyllands-Posten published a satirical drawing of the Chinese flag in January 2020, the Chinese embassy in Denmark reacted with strong indignation and demanded an official apology from the newspaper. In recent years, China has similarly employed emotional assertiveness to pressure various Western non-state actors such as Swedish Television, the Wall Street Journal, Mercedes-Benz, Marriott Hotels, and the publisher Carlsen – a unique form of coercive diplomacy that China largely practices alone. This research project examines how and why China employs emotional assertiveness toward Western non-state actors and explores the consequences of this practice. Based on a series of case studies of China's emotional assertiveness, the project simultaneously investigates the underlying drivers and the implications for the non-state actors involved. The project aligns with a rapidly growing field of research that studies the significance of collective emotions in international politics. Here, the project can particularly contribute to illuminating how state emotional diplomacy arises from a complex interplay between institutionalized identity constructs and instrumental interest representation. Finally, the project also adds to the debate on China’s increased use of coercive diplomacy (military intimidation, economic sanctions, political isolation, etc.), in which the country’s emotional assertiveness constitutes a distinct and relatively unexplored practice.