"Better Japan" ... Rising Anti-China Sentiment Among MZ Generation, Signs of 'NO China' Movement [Heo Midam's Youth Report]

'Anti-China Sentiment Rises Over "Biased Judgments and Hanbok Controversy"
Posts Like "Chinese Students Should Drop Out" Also Appear
Experts Warn "Irresponsible Hatred Must Be Cautioned"'

On the 9th, an anti-China rally was held near the Chinese Embassy, organized by the Nara Jikimi High School Union and the Freedom Protection Forum, calling for opposition to China's forced repatriation of North Korean defectors and urging the resolution of human rights issues. One participant is showing a drawing criticizing the Beijing Olympics to the press. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Anti-China sentiment among citizens is intensifying due to the Hanbok controversy at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony and biased refereeing in short track speed skating events. Especially the MZ generation (born early 1980s to early 2000s), sensitive to 'fairness,' is openly expressing hostility toward China and even mentioning boycotts of Chinese products. Experts warn against indiscriminate Sinophobia.

Recently, posts criticizing China have been continuously appearing on online communities and social networking services (SNS). Netizens have shared images containing the phrase "Eyes Open, Nose Beijing2022" on communities and engaged in heated exchanges with Chinese netizens through comments.

This is related to the 'Hanbok Gongjeong' controversy and biased refereeing issues that arose during the Beijing Winter Olympics. On the 4th, at the Olympic opening ceremony, a woman wearing Hanbok appeared as one of the representatives of ethnic minorities in China, sparking criticism. Citizens worried that foreigners watching the ceremony might mistake Hanbok for Chinese traditional clothing and pointed to it as 'cultural invasion.'

Amid this, the controversy over biased refereeing by China further fueled citizens' anger. On the 7th, in the men's 1000m short track semifinals, Hwang Daeheon and Lee Junseo were disqualified due to questionable decisions despite finishing the race well. Subsequently, Chinese athletes who placed third in their heats advanced to the finals.

The hashtag 'NoNoChina,' which promotes boycotting Chinese products and services, is spreading mainly on social networking services (SNS). Photo by Online Community Screenshot.

Meanwhile, the shameless attitude of Chinese netizens also became an issue. After the biased refereeing controversy, Chinese netizens flooded the Chinese version of Twitter, 'Weibo,' with criticisms such as "Why do Korean athletes keep committing fouls?", "Can't they compete without fouling?", and "Players who broke the rules." Notably, hashtags like 'Hwang Daeheon foul' and 'Wu Dajing got hit' each surpassed 10 million views on Weibo, ranking first and second in real-time search terms.

Given this situation, the anger of the MZ generation, who value 'fairness,' was intense. Office worker Kim (28) said, "China has long claimed our indigenous culture such as Kimchi, Hanbok, and Taekwondo as their own. So I have never had good feelings toward China. On top of that, China gave biased decisions against our athletes. The athletes must have worked hard for years for this competition, so how devastated they must have felt. No matter the host country advantage, this is unacceptable," he criticized.

Relatedly, anti-China sentiment among the younger generation appears stronger than anti-Japan sentiment. In November last year, Professor Han Namseok of the Department of Chinese Language and Culture at the University of Seoul presented "The Status of Online Anti-China Sentiment among Korean Youth" at the International Autumn Academic Conference of the Modern China Studies Association. A 2018 survey of university students in their 20s from Korea, China, and Japan showed that Korean youth's favorability toward China was 2.14 out of 5, while toward Japan it was 2.83.

A post targeting Chinese international students was recently uploaded on an online community of a university in Busan. Photo by Online Community Screenshot.

People in their 20s and 30s are also openly expressing hostility toward China through online communities. One netizen posted on the university student online community 'Everytime,' saying, "If there are any Chinese international students, please just drop out."

There are signs of a boycott movement against Chinese products emerging. Netizens are sharing information about Chinese brand stores and products on SNS, tagging hashtags such as 'ChinaBoycott,' 'BoycottChina,' and 'NoNoChina.' Other reactions included "I will delete Chinese games," "I won't use Chinese products or eat Chinese food," and "Even after COVID-19 ends, I will never travel to China."

Experts warn that anti-China sentiment should not escalate into Sinophobia. Popular culture critic Jung Deokhyun said, "If an issue is wrong, we should only talk about and criticize that issue. Indiscriminate hatred needs to be restrained."

He added, "Young people have been exposed to cultural Gongjeong-related issues through online channels. Chinese netizens also frequently assert cultural Gongjeong claims via SNS and online communities. Because of this, young people inevitably react and respond more sensitively to China-related issues," he analyzed.