International Crises and China's Technonationalist Strategies

Chiang Kai‐Shek's Prewar S&T Planning versus Xi Jinping's Amid US‐PRC Rivalry

Bibliographic Data

ID17816183
AuthorsDean P Chen (0000-0002-4049-9526, Ramapo College, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume18
Issue2
Publication date2026-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Politics & Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1943-0787 • E-ISSN: 1943-0779
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/aspp.70083
OpenAlexW7155852696
LanguageEN
References cited20

In China's search for modernization since the early twentieth century, international contingencies have served as the systemic catalyst that fostered the Chinese statist economic planning and aspirations in scientific and technological (S&T) advancement. This points to an “outside‐in” trajectory. This paper examines two pivotal junctures of imminent national security challenges confronting China: (1) the Kuomintang (KMT) of the 1930s as Chiang Kai‐shek prepared for military struggles against Imperial Japan; and (2) the People's Republic of China (PRC) today under Xi Jinping and its techno‐security programs amidst heightening strategic competition with the United States. Though the nature of these structural shocks is vastly different, they are determinative of China's push for industrial and high‐tech self‐sufficiency. Both Chiang and Xi interpreted and responded to foreign stresses through an amalgamation of Chinese traditions and technonationalism. However, the extent of the state's propensity for a restrained or assertive strategic posture also matters

China · Foreign policy · Modernization theory · National security · Rivalry · Strategic planning · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

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