Netizen Voices: As Sino-Japanese Tensions Rise, “Tourism is Treated like a Chamberpot, a Disposable Tool”
The diplomatic crisis between China and Japan continues to intensify, following Japanese Prime...
Japan relations
Minitrue: Chengdu Cybersecurity Corps on “Ideological Risks During Third Quarter 2025”
The following censorship instructions, issued by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. (Black text boxes ██ indicate words that were intentionally blacked out in the leaked images.)...
Fight Over “Correct” Historical Memory Permeates China’s War Anniversary Commemorations
China is scheduled to host a large-scale “Victory Day” military parade on September 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II (referred to in China as the “War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.”) China...
Censorship and Propaganda Fuel Anti-Japanese Nationalism During China’s War Anniversaries
Last month, a Chinese man attacked a Japanese woman and her child in a subway station in Suzhou, sending her to the hospital for treatment. Media reports about the attack were censored on WeChat. The Japanese government called...
Passport Restrictions on Public Employees, and China’s “New Cultural Emigres”
Several recent reports and articles highlight the experience of those in China who seek to leave the country in search of better opportunities or greater freedom abroad. On Wednesday, the Pew Research Center published a report...
Sympathy, Soul-Searching, and Censorship Follow Fatal Stabbing of Japanese Boy in Shenzhen
Amid state-media silence and Chinese Foreign Ministry insistence that two fatal anti-Japanese attacks in Shenzhen and Suzhou were “isolated incidents” that could happen in any country, Chinese bloggers, citizen journalists, and...
Netizen Voices on Shenzhen Stabbing: “People Care More About Political Posturing, Nationality, History, and Hatred Than They Do About Human Life”
Wednesday’s fatal stabbing of a Japanese fifth-grader as he walked to his school in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen—just months after a similar fatal stabbing at a Japanese school bus-stop in Suzhou—has prompted an...
Fatal Stabbing of Japanese 10-Year-Old in Shenzhen Sparks Outcry Over Xenophobic Violence
A 10-year-old Japanese boy was stabbed on his way to school in Shenzhen on Wednesday, September 18. He died the following day. The attack occurred on the anniversary of the 1931 Mukden Incident, which precipitated Japan’s...
Netizen Voices: Chinese Football Again In Turmoil Over Corruption and “Humiliating” Defeats
Despite a laudable performance in other sports at this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, China continues to flail in its footballing ambitions. Last Thursday, the men’s national team lost 7-0 to rival Japan in the third...
China’s “Whataboutism” After Summer Scandals Parodied
Over the summer, five scandals dominated Chinese social media: the stabbing of a Chinese school bus attendant in an anti-Japanese outburst; the suicide of a young diver after her coach raped her; the contamination of cooking oil...
Nike-wearing Nationalist Assaults Kimono-wearing Cosplayer While Yelling About “Cultural Invasion”
The latest outburst of anti-Japanese violence to shock China happened this week in Jiuquan, Gansu province, where a cosplayer at a mall comic-con was assaulted by a man yelling about “cultural invasion.” Ironically, the attacker...
Nationalists “Pinkfished” Into Calling Mao Zedong a Traitor
One of the subtler ways Chinese internet users voice their displeasure with the status quo is through “pinkfishing” (粉红钓鱼, fěnhóng diàoyú), tricking nationalist “little pinks” into criticizing Party leaders—generally by quoting...
“Toxic” Literature Exam Questions Inspire Nationalist, Anti-Japanese Outburst
A middle school literature exam in Chengdu has triggered the latest outburst of anti-Japanese nationalism. Students were asked to analyze an excerpt from “Fallen Azaleas,” an amateurish piece of fiction by the virtually unknown...
Messi Mess Highlights “Fragile” Psyche of Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese Nationalists
Argentinian soccer superstar Lionel Messi’s apology to Chinese fans last week for sitting out a friendly match in Hong Kong has done little to quiet nationalist outrage on the mainland. In early February, Messi’s home club Inter...
Word of the Week: “U-lock” (U型锁, U-xíngsuǒ)
This month, there have been a number of incidents—some major and some minor—that illustrate the “U-lock” mentality, a phrase that is sometimes used as shorthand to describe vitriolic xenophobic (particularly anti-Japanese)...
Word of the Week: “Point at a Deer and Call It a Horse” (指鹿为马, zhǐlùwéimǎ)
Open displays of rejoicing and Schadenfreude on Chinese social media after a destructive magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck western Japan on New Year’s Day have been followed by two new (and far sillier) incidents of xenophobic or...
Disinformation and Censorship Skew Debate Over Fukushima Wastewater Release
Chinese debate over Japan’s release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has thus far been characterized by disinformation, nationalism, and heavy online censorship. This in turn has fueled fear...
Beijing Floods Spur Mockery of Xi Jinping Thought on “Flood Control”
Catastrophic flooding caused by Typhoon Doksuri has killed at least 21 people, left approximately 26 people missing, and led to the evacuation of hundreds of thousands in northern China. Rainfall in Beijing broke a 140-year old...
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