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BBCOn a Tuesday morning in September, a 10-year-old boy was approaching the gate of a Japanese school in Shenzhen, southern China, when an unknown man approached and stabbed him.
He died from his injuries. The killing shocked Japan and China and caused diplomatic turmoil.
The Japanese government said the attack was motivated by xenophobia, and the country’s foreign minister blamed the attack on “malicious anti-Japanese” social media posts.
Online commentators point out that the killing occurred on a politically sensitive day, September 18, the anniversary of the events that led to Japan’s occupation of Manchuria in China in the early 1930s.
For some, the incident is a sign that online nationalism, which has manifested itself in recent years as a rise in anti-xenophobic rhetoric, is spilling over into the real world.
Posts relating to events during World War II have proliferated on the Chinese internet for years, and Japan’s wartime invasion remains a sensitive topic for nationalists in both countries. The Chinese government insists that the Japanese government has never fully apologized, and Japan’s wartime atrocities have long plagued China.
These online posts are part of a broader phenomenon that includes both xenophobia and unpatriotic attacks on Chinese people. One argument among analysts is that this digital nationalism is largely unchecked by the Chinese government, with online patriotism fanning the flames of anti-foreign sentiment and fueling accusations against Chinese figures.
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Cybernationalism can take the form of xenophobic attacks and accusations of unpatriotism
Some wonder if this is going too far. They have labeled online attacks calling Chinese figures unpatriotic “Cultural Revolution 2.0,” the latest in a series of moves to ensure ideological purity. They see echoes of the violent state-led campaigns against so-called Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enemies that traumatized China in the 1960s and 1970s. Hundreds of thousands of people died in purges, often led by youth militias known as the Red Guards. Families and neighbors turned on each other.
In a recent essay, author and university professor Zhang Sheng writes, “People once summoned the Red Guards, but now people call them the ‘Little Pinks’ (a common nickname for online nationalists’ virtual army). ) is being summoned.”
xenophobic posts
While many on Chinese social media mourned the killing of the Japanese schoolboy, some cybernationalists took a very different tone.
“I have no opinion on how Japanese people who don’t apologize for their history die,” said one popular comment on Weibo, while another commented that the Japanese He pointed out that he had killed Chinese people, “and to this day he has not apologized.” . How can they come even closer to being called civilized? ”
Chinese officials reportedly wrote messages in private group chats such as “Killing Japanese children is no big deal” and “Killing Japanese people is within our country’s regulations.” He has since been investigated, according to local media outlet Phoenix News.
While Japanese authorities demand answers about this “despicable” crime, the Chinese government has severely censored discussion of the incident online, calling it a “coincidental individual incident” and an “isolated incident.” tried to downplay the incident.
However, this is the third major attack on foreign nationals in recent months, and China has described each as an “isolated incident”.
In June, a Japanese mother and child were attacked at a bus stop outside a Japanese school, and a Chinese woman who tried to protect them was killed. The incident occurred just weeks after four American university lecturers were stabbed to death in a park in Jilin province. The motive for both attacks was also unclear, but sparked disturbing discussion online about whether they were linked to xenophobic rhetoric.
online campaign
It’s not just foreigners who are facing the wrath of cyber-nationalists. In recent months, Chinese celebrities and businesses have also been accused of being unpatriotic.
Beverage giant Nongfuquan is considered a business success story in China, and its mineral water bottles can be seen all over convenience stores and restaurant tables across the country. But in March, nationalists accused the company of using Japanese elements in its product designs. One of its logos was said to resemble a shrine, while the red cap of the iconic mineral water bottle was thought to be a reference to the Japanese flag.
The result was a short but intense online campaign. Some called for a boycott, while videos of angry people stomping on Nongfu Spring bottles and dumping the drink down toilets were circulated on social media.
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In March, online nationalists attacked Chinese mineral water brand Nongfu Spring, claiming it used Japanese elements in its product design.
Similarly, author and Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mo Yan was accused by a nationalist blogger of “glorifying” Japanese soldiers and being unpatriotic in his work, and accused him of insulting China. It caused controversy.
These developments have caused deep concern. Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of state-run newspaper Global Times, warned that nationalistic attacks on creators like Mo Yan could have a chilling effect.
And outspoken liberal intellectual Yu Jianrong said the recent stabbings of foreigners were fueled by “dangerous populist tendencies” and deserved the utmost alarm.
Even state media has accused online nationalists of “making patriotism a business.” An editorial in People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, said: “Those who add fuel to the fire by stirring up public opinion to increase traffic and gain personal benefits should be severely punished.”
However, some believe that the ruling party is complicit in adding fuel to the fire.
What feeds the fire?
Rose Luchiu, an associate professor at Hong Kong Baptist University’s School of Communication, says that “state-encouraged patriotism” and the Chinese government’s constant warnings against foreign influence are part of the “violent nationalism” we see today. He says this is the cause. Compounding that, she says, is the legal risk of being labeled unpatriotic.
The Chinese government currently criminalizes “distortion and defamation of heroes and martyrs,” and this was used in the lawsuit against writer Mo Yan. It also passed sweeping anti-espionage laws and launched a campaign urging citizens to report suspicious activity by foreigners.
To legitimize its rule, China has stepped up efforts to strengthen patriotism in schools, with Chinese children taught from an early age to love not only their country but also the Chinese Communist Party.
Meanwhile, anti-China sentiment has increased globally during the coronavirus pandemic, and trade tensions have led to growing distrust of China in Western countries, leading some Chinese to believe that their country is a foreigner. There is a growing sense of being unfairly discriminated against.
The slowdown in China’s economy and widespread social unrest also had an impact. “Many people in China face severe social and economic insecurity. Inflation, the housing crisis, youth unemployment, and evaporating pensions all cause insecurity. Nationalism seeks to vent these frustrations. “It’s a very powerful, readily available framework,” says Florian Schneider, an online expert on Chinese nationalism at Leiden University.
All these factors have made nationalist bloggers a prominent presence on the Chinese internet in recent years. Famous influencers can amass millions of followers and earn money from their traffic by publishing patriotic content that extols the virtues of China and the Chinese Communist Party while denouncing their enemies.
Although they often act in the name of revolutionary left-wing zeal, in reality their actions are similar to far-right movements in other countries leading xenophobic and reactionary movements, Professor Schneider said. told the BBC.
As “populists seeking to make China great again,” they harbor “hopes to restore society to its imagined former glory, and see elites and foreign powers of all kinds as obstacles to this goal.” “There is.”
dangerous balance
At times, authorities appear to be listening to concerns.
In July, he quietly killed a controversial amendment to the national security law after a public outcry. They acknowledged that the proposed ban, which “hurts Chinese people’s feelings”, could “violate people’s legitimate rights and normal life.”
Chinese social media platforms try to rein in online nationalists by periodically suspending their accounts.
Prominent nationalist influencers Sima Nan and Nguyang Muchan were censored without warning. So did a blogger who tried to sue Mo Yan, but that case was also dismissed by the court.
A video blogger who gained notoriety this year after posting a video criticizing shopping malls for decorating them to resemble the Japanese flag was similarly shut down. A scathing commentary in state media denounced his video as “malicious reporting riding on patriotic online traffic.”
Still, authorities appear to have loose control over online nationalists.
In the name of social stability, dissenters are quickly shut down or even arrested, while nationalist bloggers are allowed more freedom to act, although they sometimes make inflammatory statements. It is being State media amplifies these voices by republishing content.
The BBC has asked the Chinese government for answers about why nationalist content on social media appears to be less censored than other content deemed sensitive.
It argues that online nationalism is a useful safety valve for states to “muffle dissent in a way that does not undermine the authority of the state”, especially in a situation where “society really needs an outlet to express its grievances” in current economic troubles. This may be due to the fact that we believe that says Dr. Lukiu.
By encouraging and sometimes suppressing nationalists, the government “uses nationalism to its advantage, intervening only when it risks spilling over into uncontrollable situations.”
Dangerous as it may seem, the Chinese government has succeeded in quashing serious challenges to its authority in recent years, such as the 2019 Hong Kong pro-democracy movement and the 2022 White Paper protests against its strict zero-coronavirus policy. There is.
Analysts say this gives the government confidence that it can deal with the danger, meaning nationalism is likely to remain strong despite the backlash.
“Nationalism has its pros and cons for China’s leaders, but we are now seeing its costs,” Professor Schneider said.
“But will leaders reconsider or abandon nationalism in favor of something less toxic? I wasn’t going to hold my breath.”
Additional reporting by Ian Tang.
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