viewpoint on nationalism also argues for a national policy that is void of racism or persecution based on different nationalities, “No vengeance has been inflicted on the Manchus and we have endeavored to live side by side with them on an equal footing. This is the nationalistic policy toward the races within our national boundaries. Externally, we should strive to maintain independence within the family of nations, and to spread our indigenous civilization as well as to enrich it by absorbing what is best in world civilization,” (Yat-sen, 349). One can see today’s West-inspired concepts of cultural diversity, self-rule and a global resource pool from which to draw as inherent in Yat-sen’s principle of nationalism. However, Yat-sen argues that the idea of nationalism is inherent to China’s past because they have always been independent in “spirit” and “conduct,” being able to withstand loss of identity when under attack or rule by others like the Mongols.
In Yat-sen’s principle of democracy we can definitely see how he was influenced by the education he received in the West, and by the US system of government. Yat-sen suggests that in Chinese history only ideas about popular rights had been addressed, but never anything more. He argues that there are three reasons why China must become a republic: “There is no ground for preserving a monarchical form of government, since it is recognized that the people constitute the foundation of a nation and they are all equal in their own coun
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