"Digital Nationalism" as the Embodiment of the Chinese Doctrine of the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence"

Abstract

The article focuses on the special public international relations emerging among the subjects of public international law regarding the enforcement of state sovereignty in the conditions of digitalization of the economy and ensuring national interests in the field of security. The subject of the study is the Chinese doctrine of public international law. The author analyzes the legal regulations in the field of digital economy in China. The Chinese model of "digital nationalism" is being analyzed. The state sovereignty over the cyberspace is being embodied through the category of "cyber sovereignty" and the doctrine of "five principles of peaceful coexistence". The state has to implement the policy of "digital nationalism" to ensure its sovereignty. The Chinese theory of public international law is based on the doctrine of the peaceful existence of nations with different political, economic, social and cultural systems, based on a set of five fundamental principles, which facilitate the achievement of common goals while maintaining a balance of national interests. State sovereignty is the crucial point of this doctrine, since peaceful coexistence of nations is achieved through mutual respect for sovereignty. The concept of a "community of common destiny" defines the goal identified by China implementing the five principles of peaceful coexistence. The Chinese approach to the implementation of cyber sovereignty does not imply the "Balkanization" of global cyberspace, on the contrary, it is supposed to maintain the ground for the development of international legal norms in the field of information security. Therefore, the Chinese concept of cyber sovereignty, which is based on "digital nationalism", embodies the logical and expected reaction of national authorities to internal and external security threats. The Chinese theory of public international law is not a scholastic construct, but an objective reality.