Like Wang Jianshuo and Eric Hu, we were pretty surprised to see that this is what our MSN messenger looks like at the moment. Says Eric:
Over half of my Chinese-Chinese friends on MSN have put the badge on their contact names, in defiance of all the anti-China bullying that they’re undoubtedly reading about in the Chinese newspapers, watching on the Chinese news, and scouring over on the hundreds of blogs and BBS’s peppering China’s cyberscape and devoted to propping up this country’s national pride. Does anyone actually think a battle this mindless and solipsistic is going to have a clear winner, or even less likely, a clear compromise?
Jianshuo notes a similar flower bloom on MSN in 2004 and observes:
I just want to share with my friends on this blog about the reality, or to be more exact, about the reaction/perception of what happened in London and Paris. People may evaluate about the result of the protest. It is the time to find a way to communicate a message that is acceptable by the Chinese people. I heard a lot of criticism about the perception, but I only see “different”, not right or wrong.
An American friend of ours told us on IM:
It will be interesting to see if there is a backlash against the Chinese who dont have “heart China” on their MSN. Like Americans who dont wear a flag on their lapels are somehow un-American.
False and misguided patriotism can get really ugly. I know from experience. Ironically, it’s one of the reasons I moved to China.
Another American friend says:
I find this phenomenon akin to the “Support the Troops” bumper stickers on SUVs in the U.S. It’s just so tacky.
A Chinese friend of ours told us why she and others had added the (L)China to their MSN names:
To support China. The sentiment is very high now. Especially after the Paris incident happened. A lot of Chinese people I know are quite against France now. I don’t want to join the parade of anti-France, but I support China.
It’s interesting to see how nationalism rears its head in places as different as China and the US, and how it is generally quite uncool in Europe at the moment. On our part, we decided to kind of go with the flow, but in our own way, so this is what our MSN messenger looks like right now. Readers of this blog are welcome to join us on our one-man revolution.
UPDATE: Dragon TV claims 5 million MSN Messenger users “heart” China
Related link on Shanghaiist
Nationalist netizens call for boycott of Carrefour and other French brands
See what China-based Twitter-ers are saying after the jump:
