Beijing-based Global Times (环球时报) is owned by the People’s Daily and presents a more sensational, and therefore popular, official version of international news. The Global Times website has become an online gathering place for Chinese nationalists. CDT has translated some recent comments from the site below. While it is absolutely true that the nameless, faceless behavior of people online often tends to be extreme, these messages do reveal the more aggressive “patriotic” sentiments that have also been seen in some of the recent anti-West protests.

(1) These posts are in response to an article about the Foreign Correspondents Club of China, which released a press statement regarding a deteriorating environment for foreign reporters in China. According to the press statement, more than 10 journalists have received death threats as a result of popular outrage over perceived Western media bias. In response to the Global Times article about the Club’s statement, over 450 comments had been posted as of May 3, 22:42pm (Beijing time). Below are the most recent. None were left out.

2008-05-03 22:42
The song lyrics I love are: “When friends come I bring out good liquor, when the jackals come, I bring out the hunting rifle.” I’d like to add line: “People who fart through the mouth, will get shit stuffed down their throats by me!”

2008-05-03 22:42
Foreign reporters out of China!

2008-05-03 22:38
Are these assholes finished or what? These beasts are annoying as hell, fucking chattering all day. These bastards make one want to throw up. [I] strongly advocate tossing them into the Taiwan Strait to fill it up. They’re like flies. Disgusting. Are these half-breeds trying to sicken Chinese people to death?

2008-05-03 22:37
When the eight united armies invaded China, they made China pay indemnities. Too bad, that’s all history now! But even today there are foreign devils with dreams of doing the same thing!

2008-05-03 22:36
When the eight united armies invaded China, they made China pay indemnities. Too bad, that’s all history now! But even today there are foreign devils with dreams of doing the same thing!

2008-05-03 22:29
Who’s demonizing who? These are unfounded counter-charges

2008-05-03 22:29
Reject outright the high-handed demands of the Western media

2008-05-03 22:28
China doesn’t like people who make enemies of China. Kick them out. If they don’t leave, annihilate them. To hit the enemy is to protect oneself. Who doesn’t know this?

2008-05-03 22:20
The Chinese are teaching the Western media a thing or two. Are they really stupid, or are they just pretending?

2008-05-03 22:07
Their speech exemplifies the biases resulting from Eurocentric brainwashing. Now that the sons and daughters of China have stepped out into the world to express their feelings about the hundred years of shame, we’re being distorted and made into the enemy. This is a classic case of the bandit crying robber. In general, the vast majority of people are demonstrating peacefully. It’s a basic human right for the Chinese to be able to speak their voice. This is Eurocentric hegemony: they’re evil, using any means possible. We are good but are also mistaken as cowards.

2008-05-03 23:36
Q: What are they people???
A: They’re nothing!!!

008-05-03 23:30
Chinese people all have “penetrating insight”

2008-05-03 23:04
1.3 billion Chinese have nothing to fear from threats by shameless Western journalists, and they won’t tolerate their smears and slanders against China.

2008-05-03 22:55
When friends come I bring out good liquor, when the jackals come, I bring out the hunting rifle.

2008-05-03 22:44
The rejoinder by Zhou Fang Yin of the Chinese Academy of Social Science was very reasonable.

(2) These comments were written in response to an article originally written in a Russian paper and translated on the Global Times about people who turned out for the Olympic torch in Hong Kong and who overwhelmed the few demonstrators holding Tibetan flags. The original article contains a photo of a young woman holding a Tibetan flag. The headline reads: “Russian media: Hong Kong residents squeeze out opponents of the ‘sacred flame’ [torch].” Sixty-three comments had been posted as of May 4, 2:32am (Beijing time). Below are the most recent comments without omissions.

2008-05-04 02:32
I won’t admit she’s Chinese. There aren’t people like that in China! Strongly condemn her!

2008-05-04 01:50
That big-chested, brainless idiot is going to have rough days ahead

2008-05-04 01:14
These girls are quite cute. Send them to Beijing for everyone to play with

2008-05-04 01:08
Yeah.

2008-05-03 23:11
These people aren’t good enough to be Chinese. They’re not welcome on the Mainland.

2008-05-03 22:34
To be a public enemy is to show ignorance and ugliness. Lamentable!!

2008-05-03 22:30
Fuck her and fuck her again.

2008-05-03 22:28
Dreg. Why hasn’t someone crushed her like one crushes a bug?

2008-05-03 21:37
Yeah!

2008-05-03 21:24
She’s pretty good looking, fuck her.

(3) These comments are in response to an article about Korean media calling for an apology from China over the violence that erupted at the torch relay through Seoul. There were 606 comments as of May 4, 9:08am. These are the most recent without omissions.

2008-05-04 09:08
We should lower our foreign relations with these crooks.

2008-05-04 08:58
I support breaking relations with S. Korea. Every year China gives South Korea a lot of money, but then they turn around and bite the hand that feeds them. Scurrilous people. Break relations with them.

2008-05-04 08:47
(South) Koreans aren’t worthy of face. Who’s to blame for not protecting the “sacred flame” (torch)?

2008-05-04 07:45
This will have a big influence on bilateral relations. We used to like South Korea, South Korean people, South Korean TV shows, South Korean culture. But that’s all long gone, never to come back.

2008-05-04 06:28
Halt all economic interaction with South Korea, and let’s see how uppity they are

2008-05-04 03:16
Let’s incorporate South Korean into the Chinese map too

2008-05-04 02:55
Honestly, what are you South Koreans? Why don’t you go check with your master’s [USA] order first?

2008-05-04 02:00
Ignorant and shameless South Koreans, using lies to inflate your ego and lack of reason.

2008-05-04 01:07
I hope the Chinese government will fight this!!!!!!!!!