Description
In this paper we examine how threats from China affect mass attitudes in the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Japan. We integrate theories of emotion into our understanding of coercive diplomacy and empirically test our theoretical expectations using a series of experiments relating to territorial disputes and coercive threats made by the Chinese Government. By applying Affective Intelligence Theory we develop a series of hypotheses relating to how anxiety and anger influence the likelihood of coercive diplomatic success. We find remarkably consistent results across all three countries that Chinese coercive diplomacy leads to a considerable level of backlash by stimulating anger amongst the public. This anger leads to acceptance of risk and drives behavioural responses increasing the likelihood of active resistance to China. While coercive threats tend not to elicit anxiety, where respondents are anxious they become more compliant to China's demands.
