“Imperialism” was one of most frequently used political terms in China during the twentieth century.The spread of the concept of imperialism in China reached its initial climax during the 1920s when the Chinese Communist Party first introduced the term “anti-imperialism” and during the large scale nationalist movements,such as the May Thirtieth Movement;these factors turned the word “imperialism” into a core concept in interpreting the relationships of that time between China and the West.In different contexts,“imperialism” sometimes refers to a country or a combination of several countries,sometimes refers to an economic system,and in other cases,it was closely linked to the unequal treaties.Despite its multiple concrete connotations,its symbolic meaning was fairly unitary:imperialism as a symbol of aggression of Western powers in China was unanimously recognized by Chinese.The Chinese Nationalists and Communists all made the greatest efforts in probing the concept of imperialism,while intellectual circles as well as the news media also demonstrated strong interest in the concept.Through examining different interpretations of the concept of imperialism,we can still reach some consensus:economic aggression was gradually becoming the core content of all the different interpretations of imperialism.
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