China and Chinese always been held together by common language and culture. You talk to any Chinese that you meet anywhere in the world and they will understand filial piety, Chinese New Year reunion dinner, festivals, Confucius philosophy. It has been this way for last 5000 years. They do not care too much who runs the show as long as it is run the "Chinese way". Chinese people rely on their huge population, land mass and culture to defeat its enemies.
The Manchus may have controlled China but the Chinese they do not care that much as long as Manchus maintained Chinese culture - adopt the Chinese way. And in effect Manchus got absorbed into the all important Chinese culture - towards the end Manchus lost their language, much of their culture. In short you can invade and rule China but in the end you will be assimilated and become like a Chinese.
I believe that this singularity in culture will hold the country together. If you want to see potential for breaking up go see India. It has 15% Muslim population, different languages. Hindu religion is the unifying factor but that 15% Muslim pop is big problem. The the very Hindu belief of caste system weakens the social bond. I think India can be a powder keg. It is also much poorer than China
The Manchus may have controlled China but the Chinese they do not care that much as long as Manchus maintained Chinese culture - adopt the Chinese way. And in effect Manchus got absorbed into the all important Chinese culture - towards the end Manchus lost their language, much of their culture. In short you can invade and rule China but in the end you will be assimilated and become like a Chinese.
I believe that this singularity in culture will hold the country together. If you want to see potential for breaking up go see India. It has 15% Muslim population, different languages. Hindu religion is the unifying factor but that 15% Muslim pop is big problem. The the very Hindu belief of caste system weakens the social bond. I think India can be a powder keg. It is also much poorer than China