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Abstract Constructing creative security theories will benefit the construction of China’s domestic security system. Discussing in-depth theories is the precondition and foundation for theoretical innovation. A wide range of literature have applied ontological security theory to analyzing the international practice. Scholars have elucidated ontological security theory’s contribution to International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis and Security Study. Nonetheless, some debates and problems emerged in theorizing ontological security, including the referent object, achieving approaches, and the causal mechanism between ontological security and foreign policy, which limited the theorical applications. This article tries to bridge the gaps in the theorization of ontological security by reconstructing the theory, which draws inspiration from the historical sociology and interactionist role theory. It discusses the mechanism that national identity has been formed in the two interactive domains between domestic society and international society to settle the ontological debates. It establishes an analytical framework of the approach to achieving ontological security to clarify the mechanism that ontological security seeking drives policies and, simultaneously, foreign policies affect the achievement of ontological security. It further discloses the constitutive relations between ontological security and foreign policies. The reconstruction of ontological security not only responses the critique to the theory, but also strengthens the theory’s explanatory power to empirical analysis. This article applies the analytical framework to an explanation of Japan’s foreign policy choices in terms of the Diaoyu Islands issues with China. In the two cries triggered by the Diaoyu Islands issues, Japan’s perception of national identity and its expectations for China’s role have been changed. Japan’s ontological security has influenced its policies towards China and its national security strategies. Although the ontological security theory has its applicable conditions and boundary, the theoretical reconstruction is of great significance for theoretical research of security studies and international studies.
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