Imagining “Us” and “Them”: Emotional Logics of Sovereignty and National Belonging among Chinese Youth

How do people emotionally imagine political others and the competing sovereignty claims they represent, and how are these imaginaries tied to different visions of the collective “us”? Drawing on 93 interviews with Chinese college students in China and the United States between 2019 and 2021, this study examines how Chinese youth’s visions of China’s future organize their emotional responses to Hong Kong and Taiwan. We develop a typology along two dimensions: visions of China’s future (stronger versus freer) and the perceived significance of Hong Kong and Taiwan for that future. A stronger-China vision paired with high perceived significance produces nationalist defensiveness , which frames sovereignty in terms of national dignity, security, and the unfinished project of national strengthening. A freer-China vision paired with high perceived significance yields admiration and identification with democratic freedoms. Among students who attach less significance to Hong Kong and Taiwan or regard them as given, a stronger-China vision often appears as apathy , whereas a freer-China vision more often generates envy or ambivalence . These orientations are further informed by social positions, out-group interaction, and access to alternative information, which can either reinforce existing visions of “us” or unsettle perceptions of “them.” By foregrounding the interplay between imagined futures of “us” and emotional evaluations of “them,” this study shows how sovereignty debates are mediated through everyday emotions and national imaginaries, bridging research on state narratives and public opinion on territorial sovereignty.