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Article published In:
The Roles of Communication on a Regional Conflict: Antipathy, Nationalism, and Conflicts among China, Japan, and South Korea
Edited by Eung-jun Min
[Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 27:2] 2017
► pp. 246–263

Nationalism and international disputes in China

Implications for transnational corporations as corporate diplomats

| Queensland University of Technology
| Singapore Management University

For decades, the territorial dispute between China and Japan over the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands has caused diplomatic deteriorations in Sino-Japanese relations. When there is extensive media coverage on news about the dispute, nationalist sentiments in both two countries would be triggered and could be expressed through detrimental behaviors towards transnational corporations (hereinafter TNCs). While TNCs play a significant political function as corporate diplomats for their home countries, they are subject to the risk of crises when their home countries are involved in political and economic conflicts with the foreign countries in which they have operations. Against this backdrop, this paper seeks to examine the roles of TNCs with reference to three cases of nationalism-induced crises in China. It proposes relational principles based on which TNCs could implement strategies to mitigate the damage from nationalism-induced crises and contribute to their home countries’ diplomatic goals as corporate diplomats.

Keywords: corporate diplomacy, nationalism, public diplomacy, territorial disputes, transnational corporations
Article outline
  • Literature review
    • Public diplomacy, corporate diplomacy, and consumer nationalism
  • Method
    • Case #1:Government-initiated nationalist crisis on the sovereignty of Senkaku Islands
    • Case #2:Organization-initiated crisis caused by TNCs’ behaviors
    • Case #3:Public-initiated crisis caused by national protests
  • Relational principles for nationalism-induced crises
    • Political function of corporate diplomats
    • International environmental scanning
    • Foreign public segmentation
    • Crisis preparedness for international disputes
  • Conclusion and limitations
  • References
Published online: 20 November 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.27.2.06tam
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