From The Chicago Tribune (link): An increasingly influential slice of society, activists called fenqing are uprooting stereotypes about liberal youth.
From a tidy apartment crammed with canvases, paintbrushes and his all-important computer, Wang Lei is a foot soldier in the fight for China’s glory. Online, this soft-spoken art instructor becomes a hard-line patriot. He savages Japan for growing “militarism.” He urges his national leaders to actively confront foes. And he chides the U.S. for its “hostile” policy toward China.
Wang is part of an increasingly influential slice of Chinese society known as the fenqing, or angry youth. Depending on who is talking, the title can mean “striving youth” or “idiotic youth,” underscoring a deepening divide over this unpredictable ingredient in today’s China.
