Comparative Nation-building in the Borderlands between China, Myanmar, and Thailand

Abstract

<p>This chapter examines the comparative nation-building processes along the borderland area between China, Myanmar, and Thailand. It first traces the different modes of national identity construction in the three countries, and discusses how the modern conceptions of being Chinese, Burmese, and Thai have developed and transformed. This chapter analyzes a range of nation-building policies that the national governments of the three countries have or have tried to implement in their respective jurisdictions in the borderland area. Specifically, it traces how nation-building policies in each country, through the medium of cross-border ethnic ties, have created implications on the other’s abilities to implement these policies, and the responses they have received from the concerned ethnic minority groups across national borders.<br></p>