Social media pushback over Hong Kong protests, NBA, and mass detention of Muslims is dividend from China’s co-opting of celebrity culture to stoke nationalism
- Communist Party has created an army of young online warriors by using idols to appeal to them. Fans know celebrities must toe the line, and they need to follow
- Nationalism can be a double-edged sword, however, as anti-Japan protests in 2012 showed, and requires careful management, as was seen in recent NBA row
For Linda Li, supporting her favourite boy band involves more than just buying music and attending concerts: she is also regularly posting nationalist pro-China slogans on social media.
The 19-year-old student is a mega-fan of the Chinese pop sensation TFBoys, who in 2015 had a member attend a conference of “excellent youth” organised by the Communist Youth League – a party organisation that has produced top leaders such as former president Hu Jintao.
Since then, the band has regularly attended party events, gets featured in state-run media and has released a pop remake of the anthem We are the Heirs of Communism that includes a cameo from basketball star Yao Ming.
“The Communist Youth League has been using idols to appeal to young people and we know that,” says Li, who attends college in Sydney, Australia. “But for my idols to survive in the market and prosper, this is what they have to do. So we will comment patriotically under their posts.”
The Communist Party’s success in stoking nationalism among its youth is borne in part from years of finding ways to co-opt the nation’s obsessive celebrity culture.