The Anti-CCN movement prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics exemplifies the pride/humiliation complex operating in Chinese popular nationalism today. For the Chinese, the Beijing Olympics in 2008 are more than games; they generate immense national pride. As well as being a global sporting event, the Games were aimed at showcasing China’s rapid economic growth and prosperity, confirming, what Beijing believes to be the return of its rightful status in the international community (Cha, 2008: 107). However, as the whole country was putting the finishing touches on what turned out to be “truly exceptional Games”,60 the preparations were hindered by the
sudden outbreak of violence on the street of Lhasa and other Tibetan areas in China. The unrest occurred just days before the start of the much-publicised global Olympic Torch relay. The Tibetan riots drew strong criticisms from the West on Chinese government’s alleged heavy-handed approach to the crisis. Apart from the critical
coverage from Western media, pro-Tibet, anti-China protests erupted along the torch relay route. Having witnessed the disruptions which anti-China protests created during several overseas legs of the Olympic Torch relay, the immense pride attached to the Olympics amongst the Chinese public soon became a huge humiliation. They felt the chaos had made China to “lose face” at a time when China should have been applauded by the world for organising such great spectacle. Hence, nationalist fury quickly raged across China.
As popular nationalists vented their anger online, they soon discovered that some of the Western media reports, such as Cable News Network (CNN), on the Tibet unrest used photo-editing techniques to dramatise the event and make the Chinese law enforcement agents appearing more aggressive. In response to this seemingly biased and inaccurate report, Anti-CCN.com was established to expose the “lies and distortions of facts from Western media” (Takung Web News, 2008). The website posted a collection of photos and video clips used in Western media outlets which were accused to be airbrushed or photoshoped. It instantly became a popular hit in online communities, and within days the site received more than 500,000 daily visitors and hundreds of volunteers emailed the site’s creator Rao Jin, offering help in gathering materials and doing translations61 (CCTV, 2008). “做人别太CNN” (Don’t
be too CNN)62 became a very popular catch phrase in China, both in cyberspace and
in daily life (China Economics Network, 2008). Apart from illustrating Western biases, Internet users in China shared their anger, frustration and other anti-West nationalistic sentiment with one another via chat rooms and forums. One of the biggest Chinese
61 For a personal account of the development of anti-CNN.com, please see an interview with Rao Jin
(CCTV, 2008)
62 A song with the same name was timely created by a famous online singer Mu Rongxun. The song
too became an Internet sensation and a popular download in China at the time. A MTV version can be watched at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX28hMlkB5Y. Accessed 15/11/2010.
language online portal sites, Sina.com, even set up a dedicated page under a nationalistic title “Chinese Netizens Firing at CNN and other Western Media”.63 Other
popular portal sites soon followed suit. The anti-West tone was particularly strong in nationalist forums.64 In addition, thanks to the internet, the nationalist force in
Mainland China was strongly supported by patriots worldwide, especially by Chinese students overseas.65
The anti-CNN movement demonstrated how popular nationalism transfers from pride- orientated positive feelings to humiliation-orientated negative sentiment. The Olympics Games, more than any other sporting event, have always seen by the Chinese a perfect opportunity for China to demonstrate state power (Cited in Yardley, 2008). Every four years, the nation glues to the television sets and supports their sporting heroes to great success. Not only does the feeling carries the great patriotic feelings of love one’s own country, with every gold medal won by Chinese athletes, it also beings out a strong nationalistic sentiment of redemption and vindication amongst the Chinese public. This sentiment came from the infamous title the “Sick man of East Asia” that had so long been associated with weakness in terms of Chinese individual physical power and China’s national power.66 When referring to the
63 See http://bbs.sina.com.cn/zt/w/08/attackcnn/index.shtml. Accessed 12/11/2010. 64 For example, Strong Nation Forum,
http://bbs1.people.com.cn/boardList.do?action=postList&boardId=1; and Utopia,
http://www.wyzxsx.com/Article/Special/zangdu/. Both accessed 10/08/2010.
65 A search for “藏独” (Tibet Independence) in title on powerapple.com, one of the most popular and
influential overseas Chinese student forums, found more than 100 threads were posted between March and August 2008. Most of them were news and information updates, denunciations of pro-Tibet protestors, but some were calling or organising counter-demonstrations to support China. It is
interesting to note that powerapple.com has always been blocked in Mainland China. Search result can be accessed at
http://forum.powerapple.com/modules.php?name=forum&file=searchtopic&forum=38&searchkey=藏
独&uname=&start=0. Accessed 11/08/2009.
66 Interestingly, the term is reportedly first appeared as the title of a cartoon published in a Singapore in
decision for China to host the Olympics in 2008, the phrase 圆了百年奥运之梦 (the 100-year-dream of hosting the Olympics Games has come true) was often used to indicate the length of time since China joined the Olympic Movement, and to express the immense pride that China’s growing strength had been vindicated.67 As a result
successful hosting the Olympics in 2008 is seen by most Chinese as a confirmation of the PRC’s great power status (Xu, 2008: 1-29; and Brownell, 2008: 19). This positive, pride-orientated feeling quickly turned into negative, raging nationalistic anger amid the critical coverage on China from the Western media. Popular nationalism swiftly spun into action in order to counter the claims made by Western media and defend China’s image. The analysis on the anti-CNN movement has shown that these two mutually constitutive and yet distinctive mindsets, pride and humiliation, cannot be discussed in isolation. Therefore, it is reasonable to argue that, it is not possible to understand the positive aspect of Chinese popular nationalism without fully comprehending the negative side.