It comes up often in conversations about where China is heading — the reference, often sotto voce, to that great emerging global force, Chinese nationalism. We see small clues to what it looks like when we eavesdrop on social media conversations within China, or watch when China comes up against issues around its own region. But framing the precise threat that Chinese nationalism poses to the wider world proves surprisingly challenging.
One reason is simply that, at the moment, most of this new phenomenon is manifested in words, rather than actions. It is true that the language of Chinese nationalists can be fierce and bellicose. Individuals who are seen as losing the country's face — film stars who don't support government positions when they travel abroad or who are seen as appearing in films with disloyal or inappropriate themes, or intellectuals who start discussions seen as putting China down — often bear the brunt of this. Rich invective that can be, and frequently is, thrown by trolls and others at figures deemed to have erred.
Despite this, such discourtesy and ugliness in language is not remotely unique to China. Anyone scrolling down the comments section left on articles about U.S. politics these days will see words and language every bit as intemperate and extreme. As a purely linguistic phenomenon, therefore, the tone of Chinese nationalism is, alas, not unique.
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