Results tagged “nationalism”

2012, the new apocalyptic movie by director Roland Emmerich, opened this weekend in Shanghai to smashing box office records, showing that Hollywood's discovered at least one way its blockbusters can make a killing in China - by pandering to the Chinese.

Yes, indeedy, change is coming to the US of A and people, you'd better believe it! If Sen. Nancy Jacobs, Sen. Barry Glassman and Del. Wayne Norman, three Harford County, Maryland Republicans, have their way, it is soon going to be ILLEGAL to sell an American or Maryland flag made outside the country (ie., China), and all flags displayed on state property must be manufactured in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Said Sen. Nancy Jacobs to the Baltimore Examiner: "It just seems rather unpatriotic to be buying flags made in China... It's important to a lot of people. Basically, I'm happy that this starts the conversation on buying American." She proposed the general prohibition because she was asked to by "a good friend of mine who happens to be a union leader and who believes very strongly in buying American products." According to the Flag Manufacturers Association of America, the US imports about $5 million worth of flags each year, mostly from China. The association boasts of a wonderful programme that certifies that every step of the flag-making process -- fiber, dyeing, weaving, sewing, staff-making -- is completed in the US so that bored inmates at the Maryland Correctional Enterprises have something to do. Addendum: Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap writes in to inform us that as of late 2007, it's been illegal to sell Chinese-made US flags in Minnesota. Here's what he wrote last year.

Shanghai lawmakers are taking Chinese tobacco giant Chung Hwa to task for its ubiquitous billboard ads that carry the four Chinese characters “爱我中华“ (Ai Wo Zhonghua, or "Loving my China"), and feature an image of the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, along with the warning that "Smoking can damage your health". Zhonghua (or Chung Hwa in Wade-Giles) refers to China and the Shanghai Tobacco Corporation which produces the Chung Hwa brand, has maintained that its slogan "promoted patriotism and was therefore a public service campaign". City lawmakers, however, are not buying the argument and are now calling for all tobacco ads to be "banned in line with the law".

If you've ever wondered how Chinese kids are being indoctrinated with nationalistic bullshit ideals from a young age, here's how. This video shows a class of elementary school students reciting a poem entitled 《2009中国加油》("2009, Go China!") written by their teachers on how a triumphant China is rising against earthquakes and the wiles of evil politicians like Nicolas Sarkozy in "pathetic Europe" with a successful Olympics, the launch of Shenzhou 7 and the "iron will" of its people. Watch it with the Chinese transliteration and English translation from China Digital Times after the jump, but be warned, this is spine-tingling and hair-raising stuff. We find it hard to think that teachers in cities like Shanghai or Beijing would make their kids do the same thing, but then again you never know.

Among driving rain, rough winds and other remnants of yesterday’s tropical storm, the streets of Hong Kong are teeming today with the usual bustle of high-powered businessmen and equally serious shoppers. But there’s something new on the streets of the island metropolis: Chinese patriotism. According to a recent survey by the Public Opinion Program at the University of Hong Kong, a 58% of Hong Kongers of Chinese descent now identify themselves as Chinese or Chinese Hong Kong citizens. The number may still be only a bare majority, but it shows significant growth of PRC patriotism — when the annual survey was first conducted in 1997, the year HK reverted to Chinese rule, only 18.6% identified as Chinese nationals.

Travel agencies in Beijing have been asked to withdraw France as a tourist destination, starting this week.

       

The crowds were assembled, the flags were being waved, and the nationalism was fervent — Shanghai was ready for the torch relay. We'd got up nice and early, aiming for People's Square but, due to the volume of people, only making it as far as the corner of Tibet Road (yeah, we know). After waiting in the strong early morning sun for a couple of hours, the chants of "中国加油!“ ("Come on China!") got louder and louder until a buzz went around the crowd that the torch was on its way towards us.

The good people of KFC have been handing out national pride along with their popcorn Chicken lately:

Scenes captured across Chengdu during the three minutes of silence, when all of China ground to a halt yesterday. For many Chengdu-ites, this earthquake has hit very, very close to home:

Via Danwei: Media mogul, celebrity blogger and ICS host, Hong Huang (洪晃 or Huang Hung as she is known in the US) speaks to MSNBC on the recent outburst of Chinese nationalism. Her mother was Mao Zedong's English teacher. For a previous Danwei interview with Hong Huang, click here.

Following their somewhat bizarre picture last month of Obama and a "dapper" donkey, the latest person to grace Baidu's homepage gives a slightly clearer message. The picture is of "Wheelchair Angel" (as she's been dubbed in some sections of the press) Jin Jing clutching the Olympic Torch to her chest, a position she adopted when pro-Tibetan protestors tried to snatch the flame from her in Paris last month. Clicking on the picture takes you through to a page headlined with the words "Protect the scared flame, make China faster, higher, stronger!"

Depending on where you read your news, the nation-wide boycott of, and protests against, French supermarket chain Carrefour in China were either a well-attended show of nationalistic pride or were over-shadowed by the bargains on offer inside the stores. Angered by events surrounding the Olympic torch relay in Paris last month and by President Sarkozy declining to rule out a boycott of the games in Beijing in August, the protests had been arranged through on-line forums and text messaging.

By Benjamin Cohen

Since we told you about the MSN (L) China campaign yesterday, the mainstream media in China has lapped it all up. Shanghai's Dragon TV today claimed a whopping 5 million MSN users. And just as you're wondering where the hell they plucked that figure from, Xinhua today quoted a paltry 2.3 million MSN Messenger users, and even has a very authoritative source to back that up:

MSN China spokesman Feng Guangshun released the figure on Thursday. Many more people have opened their MSN accounts to find a message which asked them to add the "red heart" and "China" in front of their signatures.

Continue reading "Dragon TV claims 5 million MSN Messenger users "heart" China"

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.

First it was Coca-Cola. Now Carrefour, too, has been hit. The video on the right shows a confrontation between a (lone?) woman protestor outside Carrefour in Beijing and a PSB officer (h/t to PandaPassport). Jason Leow of the Wall Street Journal writes:

Some Chinese citizens, angry over foreign criticism of their country's policies in Tibet, are calling for boycotts of at least two European retailers for purportedly supporting the Dalai Lama, the latest sign of growing tension between China and the West ahead of the Olympics.

Continue reading "Nationalist netizens call for boycott of Carrefour and other French brands"

High intelligence society and all round cybernerds GaoZhiShang (tr: wisdom) have an interesting way of getting Facebookers to add their new IQ testing application: rampant nationalism!

NOTE: The opinions expressed in "Opinionist" columns are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Shanghaiist.