As Chinese nationalism flares across cyberspace, the government is growing concerned that passions could spill over into the real world, and that anger directed against foreigners could turn inward. Critics contend that Beijing has had a role in fanning the xenophobic sentiment to counter international condemnation of its crackdown on Tibetan rioters, but now Chinese officials appear to be trying to reduce the vitriol.
Chinese censors have quietly warned cyber-police and internet businesses to delete all information related to protests against Western policies, nations or companies that have proliferated in the wake of demonstrations surrounding the global Olympic torch relay and high-level calls to boycott the opening ceremony of the summer games in Beijing. A notice issued last week by China's 'Internet Inspection Sector' instructs recipients to reset the keywords used to block access to certain websites, relay the instructions through all internet distribution channels and then delete the notice in a timely manner. 'Such information has shown a tendency to spread and, if not checked in time, could even lead to events getting out of control as they did with the 9 April incident against Japan,' says the censors' notice.
That was a reference to April 2005, when demonstrators attacked Japan's embassy in Beijing and consulate in Shanghai, burned Japanese goods and beat Japanese citizens because of Tokyo's bid to join the UN Security Council and over Japanese textbooks that downplayed Tokyo's wartime aggression.
A planned event to give away patriotic T-shirts near Beijing's Qinghua University reportedly was halted by police. The growing resentment towards foreigners comes during a year when China is hoping to showcase its hospitality to the world for the Olympics in August. The government has to curb criticism of foreigners without appearing weak in they eyes of angry Chinese.
France has become a particular target of mass Chinese anger after pro-Tibet, Darfur and other human rights activists attacked the Olympic torch this month in Paris, forcing bearers to retreat to a bus and shorten the route. Earlier, French President Nicolas Sarkozy became the first world leader to suggest that he might boycott the opening ceremony. Several Western reporters have had death threats since their phone numbers and other details were posted online.
Chinese internet users called for a boycott of Carrefour, the French supermarket chain that has more than 90 stores in China, after a rumour spread that shareholders supported the Free Tibet movement. Carrefour has denied any such support, but one online survey found 210,000 supporters for a boycott.
'The French really make Chinese people angry,' said Zhou Shuyang, a 22-year-old student. 'And we don't want to be treated this way by the Western media, which lies. If we were allowed, a lot of people would join in protests, and I would as well.'
Chinese have called for boycotts of French products made by Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Airbus, Renault and others, fuelled by rumours that the companies support the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, and donate sizeable sums to pro-Tibet groups. 'This is totally groundless,' Bernard Arnault, chief executive of Louis Vuitton's parent company, LVMH, told the French daily Le Figaro
'These young people get very emotional,' said Li Datong, former editor of the Freezing Point, an influential newspaper supplement. But 'it's unthinkable for the government to let demonstrations happen before the Olympics'.
In recent weeks China's propaganda department has tolerated and even fuelled an outpouring of internet postings and blogs against Western media. China's state-run media have featured articles on Western 'bias' prominently. CNN has been singled out for using a photograph in March on its website that cropped out Tibetan rioters attacking Chinese targets, focusing instead on a Chinese military vehicle. Last week passions flared when CNN commentator Jack Cafferty described China's leaders as a 'bunch of goons and thugs'.
LA Times