Chinese nationalism in renewed spotlight after online attacks on bottled water firm, Nobel Prize-winning author

SINGAPORE: What do a Chinese drinks giant and a Nobel Prize-winning author have in common? They’ve both run afoul of vocal Chinese nationalists in recent weeks.

The campaigns against Nongfu Spring - China’s largest bottled water producer - and Nobel Literature laureate Mo Yan have raised eyebrows both in China and abroad, even drawing criticism from other nationalistic quarters within the country.

While this is far from the first time Chinese nationalism has reared its head, analysts say the latest online attacks - on prolific domestic targets no less -  reflect the growing reality confronting Chinese firms and high-profile individuals in the world’s second-largest economy: To carefully watch their words and actions, lest they become the next subject.

The incidents have also raised questions over the motivations of China’s online nationalists. One expert CNA spoke to said while it is hard to tell if these users are genuinely patriotic, they can easily profit from “nationalistic witch-hunting” on social media. 

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“They gain attention and followers, and in turn, opportunities to make money from their new-found fame,” added Associate Professor Yew Chiew Ping from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).

DRAWING NATIONALISTIC IRE

The Nongfu Spring case surfaced last month. It was initially centred on founder Zhong Shanshan after the death of a key competitor Zong Qinghou - the founder of rival Hangzhou Wahaha Group and a former partner - cast the spotlight on their rivalry.

Amid a strong outpouring of grief in China over Zong’s death, claims by nationalistic voices began emerging that he was undermined by Mr Zhong - China’s richest man - and that this was how Mr Zhong made his fortune.

Mr Zhong later posted a statement on Weibo denying the allegations and calling on people not to be “misled” by online influencers.

But the post did little to quell the criticism. In the comments section, many users fired back with sarcastic remarks against Mr Zhong's son, who holds American citizenship. 

The company's troubles did not stop there. Days after, claims surfaced online that Nongfu Spring had allegedly used Japanese religious motifs on the packaging of its green tea products.

Nongfu Spring later clarified that the architectural patterns on the packaging were artistic creations based on the image of a Chinese temple, rather than Japanese architecture, according to a report by the state-run Global Times.

Chinese news outlet The Paper reported last Wednesday (Mar 13) that since Feb 28, share prices of Nongfu Spring have fallen by 4.8 per cent, losing more than HK$20 billion (US$2.6 billion) in market value.

That same month in February, nationalistic ire was also brewing against renowned Chinese author and Nobel laureate Mo Yan.

Mo Yan, whose birth name is Guan Moye, was the first Chinese citizen to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2012. He is also part of a state-funded association of writers and spent five years on China’s top political advisory body.

A self-proclaimed patriotic blogger called Wu Wanzheng, who has about 221,000 followers on Weibo, filed a lawsuit against him, accusing Mo Yan of smearing national heroes and glorifying Japanese soldiers in his fictional works set during the Japanese invasion of China.

Wu is seeking 1.5 billion yuan (US$$211 million) in damages - one yuan for each Chinese person. He also wants Mo Yan to apologise and for the offending books to be removed from circulation.

PUSHBACK TO THE ATTACKS

Even as Nongfu Spring and Mo Yan come under fire from nationalistic voices, Chinese netizens have also come to their defence, with analysts pointing out support being expressed by public figures who are also identified as nationalists. 

Among the prolific defenders is Mr Hu Xijin, the former long-time top editor of state-linked Global Times. He accused Mo Yan’s naysayers of “using the banners of patriotism” as a scapegoat to criticise people and issues. Some people think that just by raising the banner of “political correctness”, they can do whatever they like, he added.

China must “resolutely stop the spread and development of extremist forces in our society”, Mr Hu said in a separate post as reported by the South China Morning Post.

Mr Hu also waded in on the Nongfu Spring case. He defended the US citizenship of Mr Zhong’s son, saying his “naturalisation as an American citizen is a personal freedom permitted by law”.

Mr Hu added that while Chinese citizens may not like the change, to criticise the Zhongs as well as "boycott and punish" a private enterprise would be irrational and cause damage to the Chinese legal system. 

Academics CNA spoke to were critical as well towards the attacks on Nongfu Spring and Mo Yan.

Assoc Prof Yew from SUSS noted that the backlash does not reflect all of Chinese society. While acknowledging the pushback to the nationalistic attacks, she added that most dissenters in China are unlikely to openly air their views and have “no safe platforms” to do so. 

“This merely reflects how the self-proclaimed online Chinese nationalists have fallen into a degenerative downward spiral of their own doing, not unlike what happened during the Cultural Revolution,” she said.

While Chinese nationalistic ire has typically fallen on foreign firms - as observed in 2021 when boycott calls were made against Swedish fashion giant H&M and other major Western clothes retailers - Chinese brands and individuals have not been spared either, with Nongfu Spring and Mo Yan merely the latest in the hot seat, observers point out.

In 2021, Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan was effectively cancelled after photos of him at Japan's controversial Yasukuni Shrine taken several years ago circulated online and sparked outrage in China. 

Sportswear giant Li-Ning faced boycott calls in 2022 after launching a clothing collection that Chinese internet users claimed resembled Japanese military uniforms. That same year, Chinese budget retailer Miniso apologised for styling itself as a Japanese designer brand.

“One difference is perhaps how the claims of “ru hua” (meaning “an insult to China”) have become, as shown by these recent cases. Mo Yan is not known to be critical of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), and the accusations against Nongfu Spring are just far-fetched and silly,” said Assoc Prof Yew.

Mo Yan, after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, faced criticism for being too close to the Chinese government. Several rights activists and fellow writers rebuked him, saying he was unworthy of the prize.

Professor Daniel Vukovich from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) pointed out how Mo Yan, instead of being criticised for not being a dissident, is now being criticised online for being too much like one.

“Part of what makes his work special is actually that he does question … taken-for-granted knowledge of what life is or was like in the countryside during the red and later decades. This is not unpatriotic or anti-China - if anything it’s the opposite,” Prof Vukovich added.

Meanwhile, questions have also been raised over the motivation of these self-proclaimed nationalists, and whether profit is a factor.

China Digital Times, a US-based news website covering China, reported on Mar 13 that Wu Wanzheng, the blogger who filed the lawsuit against Mo Yan, had launched a paid subscription service starting from 50 yuan a month. 

According to the report, Mr Wu had also opened his own Weibo store and started bringing in goods. Besides these, the blogger had also opened a "blogger's special" subscription on several platforms, including paid columns.

In another case, Al Jazeera reported earlier this month that a Chinese vlogger was criticised for using patriotism to make a profit from his content. 

The vlogger had claimed New Year decorations on a shopping mall in Nanjing were nationalistic Japanese motifs, which sparked controversy online. State media CCTV then posted an article criticising the vlogger's claims, which was titled "Patriotism is not a business, reports should come with evidence". 

POPULIST NATIONALISM?

In the case of Mo Yan, while HKU’s Prof Vukovich believes the author’s reputation and livelihood are not going to be affected by this recent incident, he pointed out that many people do seem more patriotic and proud to be Chinese than in the 1990s. 

“So now (Mo Yan’s) perceived views of the Party and nation may seem more weak than they did to his liberal critics abroad or in China in years gone by.”

In the case of Nongfu Spring, while framing it as an expression of “intense nationalism”, Prof Vukovich argued that it “refers as much to populism … as to nationalism”.

“Populism has not weakened since the 90s, but if anything has grown … so now you have populist dynamics within nationalism or within Chinese political culture, and this can be good or bad depending on your view, and depending on what it is reacting to,” he added. 

Prof Vukovich pointed out that a possible trigger for nationalistic ire could have been the optics of Nongfu Spring’s founder being a Chinese national while his son is an American citizen.

“Zhong Shanshan is the wealthiest man in China … and his son, who will presumably inherit his entire fortune, is a US citizen.  How does this look for China? Not good at all.”

When Mr Zhong issued his Weibo statement clarifying his rivalry with the late Wahaha founder Zong, among the critical remarks by Chinese netizens was one that went: “To summarise your point, Wahaha is China’s Wahaha, Nongfu Spring is America’s Nongfu Spring.” 

Another user commented: “Earn money in China and then spend it all in America?” Meanwhile, another user wrote: “This is the blood-sucking tactic of American capitalism, next time let’s not buy anything from Nongfu Spring.”

Such criticism and comments from people online are not just nationalist but populist and re-distributive, Prof Vukovich said.

“Neither the tycoon nor his son can easily be a ‘man of the people’ when they are so rich on the one hand, and an American citizen on the other. So perhaps the reaction to Nongfu Spring is driven by populism as a response to inequality more than by plain nationalism and love of nation,” he said.

A BALANCING ACT

While the Chinese government has not come out to directly address the nationalistic blowback towards Nongfu Spring and Mo Yan, observers note that authorities are bound to be watching developments closely.

Dr Lim Tai Wei, an adjunct senior research fellow from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) East Asian Institute, pointed out that Chinese Internet watchdogs have “powerful algorithms at play that will shut off nationalistic discourses and narratives if they have the potential of causing social disruptions”. 

While HKU’s Prof Vukovich believes the Nongfu Spring saga is “beyond what the state itself would like to see or encourage”, he doesn’t see the authorities intervening. “Nongfu took a hit on the stock market but that’s the nature of free-wheeling capitalism,” he said. 

Reacting against such behaviour would likely only produce more of it, Prof Vukovich added.

“(It would also) backfire and make these types of critics into martyrs and prophets. I think the government or watchdogs have enough wisdom to just let it go, or to let it come and go.”

Either way, analysts don’t foresee any lasting consequences from the recent cases, especially with Chinese nationalism being a long-standing reality.

“Chinese firms and public figures should already know that there is such a thing as strong nationalism in China and that it can sometimes conflict with you,” said Prof Vukovich.

Echoing this, NUS’ Dr Lim also said that societal harmony and national security are overriding factors that will “smother” any nationalistic instincts if they go against these two sociopolitical state priorities in the Chinese political system.

“It is thus incumbent on Chinese firms or public figures to watch their public narratives and discourses carefully and not run afoul of social harmony much valued by the powers that be.”