When a Taiwanese model recently scolded people from the mainland on social media, it triggered a wave of comments from netizens who took it as a personal insult and an attack on China. Anger has become a recurring display of Chinese cyber-nationalism. Controversies often end with a public “apology to China”.
Popular Taiwanese model ‘Stella’ (史黛拉) stirred controversy on Chinese social media on September 29 for calling mainlanders ‘426‘, a Taiwanese term for scolding people from the PRC.
The pronunciation of ‘426’ [死阿陆] sounds similar to ‘damned mainlanders‘ [死大陆人] in Taiwan’s Hokkien dialect.
The model made the remarks as she posted pictures on her Facebook page that show her working at the Shanghai International Automobile Fair: “Can you let me take a selfie?! Masses of ‘426’ (damned mainlanders) want to take pictures with me, and Arabic people, Japanese and all kinds of bastards secretly photographing me and asking my number,” she complained.
The model’s remarks triggered hundreds of reactions on Sina Weibo. Many Chinese saw the post as an indication of Taiwanese attitudes towards mainland China. Some netizens wrote: “Resist Taiwan bastards from earning money in China and then scolding mainlanders. Trash!”
“Taiwanese people have no inner qualities,” another Weibo user commented.
“Can’t the government take measures against people who insult mainlanders?”, another netizen said.
Similar controversies frequently surface on Chinese social media. Last August, Chinese netizens were furious after footwear brand K-Swiss launched a commercial that depicted an alleged Chinese character in a way that was called “insulting” and “humiliating” to China.
Popular Korean actor Park Bo Gum, who featured in the commercial, received a storm of criticism. Many Chinese netizens blamed him for ridiculing their country.
China’s Angry Cyber-Nationalism
News of ‘China’ getting its “feelings hurt” by foreign celebrities or institutions frequently pops up in Chinese media, leading to an angry display of Chinese cyber-nationalism.
According to Ying Jiang, the author of Cyber-Nationalism in China (2012), the roots of the “angry nationalism” expressed by today’s Chinese netizens can be traced back to China’s “Century of Humiliation” that took place from roughly the mid-1800s until after WWII.
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During this period, China faced a great deal of hardships brought about by foreign powers. The Opium Wars and unequal treaties led to an economic and military decline, and ultimately caused China to weaken.
In the postwar 20th century, the rise of Chinese nationalism has gone hand in hand with an intensification of anti-foreign sentiments. A new wave of nationalism came about in the 1990s when Western influences on China were considered to negatively influence Chinese traditional culture. It was also the time when the government launched an extensive propaganda campaign of patriotic education, that especially impacted China’s younger generations.
Although China’s post-1990s generation is generally known for having a strong sense of internationalism, they also have a distinct sense of patriotism.
Author Zheng Jiawen recently wrote how the term ‘little pinkos’ (小粉红) nowadays refers to a high-profile group of Chinese young female netizens who go online to defend their patriotism. Taking action against foreign “insults” is part of their movement. They are not alone; the sentence “never forget national humiliation” (勿忘國耻) is ubiquitous on Chinese social media.
A Year of Apologies
China’s angry cyber-nationalism has become very apparent in 2016, a year in which China has received multiple apologies for “hurting the feelings of the Chinese”. Many of these incidents occured during the Rio Olympics.
One of the controversies involved an inaccurate Chinese flag. Chinese Olympic viewers were offended when a wrong version of the Chinese flag was used during several medal ceremonies. While the Chinese embassy in Brazil subsequently rushed to have accurate versions of the Chinese flag made by local manufacturers, netizens started a petition demanding an apology from the Rio Olympic organization.
Subtle difference. This is the incorrect flag. The correct Chinese flag has one large star and four small stars, each of whose points angle towards the main star. See image below by Daily Mail.
The flag mishaps continued. During the medal ceremony where Chinese swimmer Fu Yuan Hui shared the bronze with Canada’s Kylie Masse, the Chinese flag was seen hanging below the Canadian one. Many netizens viewed this as a sign of disrespect. Then there was Australia’s Channel 7 flag mix up where China was mistakenly represented by the Chilean flag, leading to furious reactions with another online petition demanding an apology from Channel 7.
Another noteworthy incident involved the Canadian media. When Canadian Olympic TV commentator Byron MacDonald thought his microphone was off, he insulted a Chinese athletic swimmer and caused outrage on Weibo. The presenter apologized shortly after.
The list does not end here. Back in January of this year, 16-year-old Taiwanese K-pop singer Chou Tzuyu got into trouble for waving a Taiwanese flag on a Korean reality show. Netizens criticized the singer for supporting Taiwan’s independence by waving the flag, which prompted Chou to release a video on the eve of Taiwan’s presidential elections to apologize for her actions.
Later in April, two cast members from No Other Love, a popular Chinese romantic film, also got into trouble for “insulting” China. Taiwanese lead actor Leon Dai was even removed from the film for his alleged support to the Taiwanese independence movement. American-born Japanese actress Kiko Mizuhara was criticized for being anti-Chinese for liking an Instagram photo that offended the Chinese.
She later apologized in a 5-minute video on Weibo.
‘Apologize to China Contest’
According to some commentators, the sensitivity over “hurt feelings” sometimes becomes problematic. Last July, Japanese vlogger Kinoshita Yuka, known for eating large quantities of food on camera, came under fire after she posted a video of herself eating 137 bananas. Chinese netizens wondered if Kinoshita was eating bananas that originated from the Philippines, and if the 137 bananas were an allusion to China’s 1.37 billion population, as a revenge in reference to the South China Sea verdict.
The YouTube video soon triggered another war of words between Chinese and foreign netizens, as many Chinese netizens viewed the act as a deliberate insult aimed at China .
One comment read: “At a sensitive time like this, you release this video of you eating 137 Philippine-grown bananas to insult the Chinese, are you dumb? Do you think the Chinese are easily bullied?”
In the same month, Lady Gaga caused a ‘bad romance’ between herself and China after she met with the Dalai Lama. For many netizens, it marked the end of her career in China: “I like your songs, but I choose my country over you.”
Seeing this trend of Chinese people easily getting their “feelings hurt”, an activist in Taiwan named Wang Yikai started an “Apologize to China” contest in the summer of 2016. The contest soon went viral and attracted the attention of netizens from all over the world, including from China.
The contest received many creative apologies in all shapes and forms, from pictures to videos. The winning apology came from a Hong Kong group and was a parody of the song “Sorry Sorry” by Super Junior. In the parody, the group sings they are sorry for not loving China enough because they don’t own a made-in-China iPhone clone.
It seems that Taiwanese model Stella has chosen the wrong year to upset Chinese netizens. By now, she has removed her comments from her Facebook page, but the screenshots have already gone viral on Chinese social media.
“Go back to your own island!” many netizens say.
“Why are you Taiwanese always so disgraceful?” another Weibo user comments: “Good for us that you don’t call yourselves ‘Chinese’ when going abroad, otherwise you would give us all a bad name.”
The model has not responded to the controversy yet. Perhaps she can start by registering for next year’s ‘Apologize to China’ contest.
– By Manya Koetse and Chi Wen
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References
Ying Jiang. 2012. Cyber-Nationalism in China: Challenging Western media portrayals of Internet censorship in China. Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press.
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