(Bloomberg) -- President Xi Jinping has overseen a surge in Chinese nationalism to boost his government’s popularity as tensions have frayed with rivals. Now, the murder of a Japanese boy is exposing the dangers of that tactic.
Chinese authorities declined to comment on the motive behind the attack on a 10-year-old boy stabbed this week near his Japanese school in Shenzhen.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said he was “saddened” by the killing, insisting it was an “individual case” at a regular press briefing Thursday in Beijing. “China will continue to take effective measures to protect all foreign nationals,” he added.
Months earlier, Chinese authorities also described a knife attack on a Japanese woman and child, as well as the stabbing of four teachers from a US college, as “isolated” incidents.
But the date of this week’s tragedy stood out: It fell on the sensitive anniversary of an event that triggered Japan’s invasion of China — now called National Defense Education Day, when sirens sound in cities across the world’s No. 2 economy.
The ruling Communist Party has legitimized its policies in recent years by promoting a strong China on the world stage, often fomenting hostility toward the US and its allies including Japan. With disgruntlement spreading over the nation’s economic slowdown, the government is now grappling with online hatred spilling over into real-life violence.
“Chinese authorities have certainly normalized nationalism as the ‘correct’ way to understand the world,” said Florian Schneider, chair professor of modern China at Leiden University. “What citizens then do with that understanding is not up to any individual leader — and it can backfire, sometimes spectacularly so.”
On social media, some were critical of the government, reflecting a more moderate slice of society. “Who tolerated hatred comments online?” one person asked under the Japanese Embassy in China’s post about the attack on the X-like Weibo. “The hatred education has had remarkable results,” read another top-voted comment.
While nationalism might have provided a catalyst for the recent outbursts, Schneider cautioned “the roots are likely much deeper, tying in with broader social and economic anxieties.”
China’s property slump has wiped some $18 trillion in wealth from households, according to Barclays Plc calculations, and triggered pay cuts and layoffs as the nation wrestles with its longest period of deflation in decades. Earlier this year, Chinese social media users connected economic pressures to an uptick in violence in a country where such attacks are relatively rare.
Public violence against foreigners undercuts Beijing’s goal of attracting overseas business at a time of sagging investment, as well as its bid to lure back tourists after years of pandemic isolation. Almost half of Japanese firms in China polled recently said they won’t spend more or will cut investment this year — citing rising wages, falling prices and geopolitical tensions.
“The current knifing incident may be an additional concern to add on to such issues,” said Lim Tai Wei, adjunct senior research fellow at National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute.
Some of Japan’s biggest companies and banks urged the protection of employees in China, with Toyota Motor Corp. warning staff to be on alert in accordance with embassy guidelines.
Generations of Chinese citizens have grown up exposed to hostile propaganda toward Japan. Beijing claims Tokyo hasn’t apologized sufficiently for war atrocities and is embroiled in territorial spats with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea. Tensions have deepened as Asia’s largest economies compete in a wide array of commercial fields, and Tokyo forges closer military and trade ties with the US.
Beijing further fanned anti-Japan sentiment last year by rebuking Tokyo’s plan to release treated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, and banning all seafood from its neighbor. That decision defied the International Atomic Energy Agency’s assessment the move would have a negligible impact on the environment.
Highlighting the growing antagonism, a Chinese influencer recently posted a video of himself desecrating the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, associated with Japan’s history of military aggression. That act drew criticism on Chinese social media, where some rallied against the show of extreme nationalism.
A viral Wechat article titled “I Still Feed Sad For That Japanese Boy” similarly questioned the anti-Japan rhetoric that has become mainstream over the past decade.
“The voices supporting friendly exchanges between China and Japan have gradually been marginalized, or even cleansed online,” wrote the author in a post that had over 4,000 likes by Thursday afternoon.
Such narratives “will eventually spill offline and have influence over the real world,” the author wrote. The article was later censored “due to violations.”
It’s a risk the nation’s leaders seem to understand.
Beijing has reined in its “Wolf Warrior” diplomats, and is trying to stabilize ties with the US through a flurry of high-level diplomatic talks. After the June stabbing of a Japanese woman and child, Chinese authorities gave the bus attendant who sacrificed her life to save them a hero’s award, commending her efforts to help the foreigners.
The extent of the challenge to shift sentiment was exemplified this week when the World Table Tennis group was attacked by Chinese fans for choosing to sell tickets for an event in Fukuoka — a city in Japan — on the same date that sparked Tokyo’s invasion of China. Eventually, organizers relented.
“The Communist Party has built nationalism as a form of legitimacy, but it’s like riding a target,” said Geoff Raby, former Australian ambassador to China. “It can’t always control it in its own interest.”
--With assistance from Dan Murtaugh, Colum Murphy and Josh Xiao.
(Updates with details of Japanese companies urging protection of staff in China.)
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