Anti‐Colonial Colonialism: Imperialist Identities of Russia and China in Their Quest for Post‐Subalternity

ABSTRACT

Why do Russia and China legitimize colonial and imperial practices through anti‐colonial and anti‐Western rhetoric? This article compares how both regimes discursively justify coercive policies toward culturally proximate Others (Ukrainians, Taiwanese, Hongkongers) and culturally alien Others (Crimean Tatars, Uyghurs, Tibetans). It argues that colonialism is legitimized as a means of reaffirming supranational imperialist identities to pursue post‐subalternity reconstituting itself as an autonomous centre of a hierarchical order with own civilizational model as an alternative to dominant Western norms. Through processes of othering and blame‐shifting, Russia and China portray targeted populations as victims or proxies of Western neo‐colonial manipulation, framing their own domination as protective, defensive and emancipatory. This strategy, conceptualized as ‘anti‐colonial colonization’, allows both states to depict repression, assimilation and military aggression as morally necessary acts of decolonization. Drawing on discursive analysis of official and semi‐official sources, the article shows how identity‐driven colonialism legitimizes violence at home and abroad.