Diverting Public Attention from Domestic Failures toward External Enemies
After the South China Sea arbitration ruling, Chinese state media fueled anti-foreign sentiment.
Behind this lies a strategy to deflect public attention from economic stagnation and diplomatic setbacks by redirecting anger outward, echoing patterns rooted in the Cultural Revolution era.
2016-09-11
The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
The South China Sea.
Exclusion reminiscent of the Mao Zedong era.
After the arbitration ruling, it was China’s state-controlled media that inflamed anti-foreign sentiment.
Behind this, one can glimpse the intention of the Xi Jinping leadership to divert public attention away from domestic problems and direct it outward.
A reform-minded intellectual in Beijing analyzed the situation as follows.
The domestic economy is stagnating, and the diplomatic environment is deteriorating.
They are trying to blame a series of policy failures on conspiracies by the United States and others seeking to contain China.
In China, demonstrations that criticize the Communist Party regime are harshly suppressed.
However, when the target of protest is a foreign country, they are often tacitly permitted.
At times, demonstrations are even mobilized by the authorities.
Anti-French demonstrations following the disruption of the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Paris in 2008.
Anti-Japanese demonstrations protesting Japan’s nationalization of the Senkaku Islands in 2012.
These are cited as representative examples.
In the early stages of the Cultural Revolution.
China confronted both the United States and the Soviet Union simultaneously.
It also became hostile toward nearly all neighboring countries.
Regarding the diplomatic approach of the Xi Jinping administration.
Voices have emerged saying that it recalls the era of Mao Zedong.
The values embedded during the Cultural Revolution.
Have permeated Chinese society.
From the leadership down to ordinary citizens.
In Part Three.
Using recent developments from this summer.
The depth of these lingering scars will be depicted.
Honorifics omitted.