Two contrasting perspectives have been featured in recent years about the role of domestic public opinion in China's foreign policy making. On the one hand, the bottom-up viewpoint is that popular nationalism is a driving force in policymaking, influencing decisions on Japan and the United States, among other matters. Commercialized media appeal to it, official statements cater to it, and leaders pay close attention as they seek to increase their popularity by choosing policies with broad support. On the other hand, the top-down perspective holds that public opinion is manipulated as a tool of national policy through the Central Propaganda Department and other mechanisms. Official directives make clear what line should be taken by the media and netizens on sensitive issues and what cannot be permitted. While foreign interpretations vacillate between these two extremes—lately tilting toward the latter—they do not sufficiently address the contemporary Chinese debates on the subject.

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