China’s nationalism might work at home, but it’s causing upset on the world stage, experts say

Nationalism is a central part of the Communist Party’s legitimation strategy, but it also threatens to derail the country’s rejuvenation project, observer says

If the global sentiment turns anti-Chinese, it could jeopardise Beijing’s grand belt and road plan to boost connectivity across Asia and beyond, academic says

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Chinese nationalism may be good for creating a sense of national unity but it can be damaging on the world stage. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:00pm, 26 Apr 2020Updated: 10:58pm, 26 Apr 2020

The nationalistic sentiment that permeates Chinese social media content may be useful in unifying support for the Communist Party at home, but on the world stage it is more likely to stir up animosity and distrust, observers say.

“This is the great irony of Chinese nationalism,” said Florian Schneider, director of the Leiden Asia Centre in the Netherlands.

“The authorities rely heavily on nationalism as part of their legitimation strategy at home … [but] at the same time, that strategy risks derailing the national rejuvenation project that the authorities have promised their citizens.”

China has more than 854 million internet users and three main social media platforms: WeChat, QQ and Weibo, the first of which is the world’s most popular messaging service and a vital part of everyday life for hundreds of millions of Chinese.

The downside of WeChat’s ubiquity is that it is frequently used as a platform to promote all manner of fake news and propaganda, quite often for the purpose of financial gain.

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