Who’s hurt Chinese feelings the most?
As Jerome reported in yesterday’s This Week in China, the Chinese government criticized French President Nicolas Sarkozy for hurting “the feelings of the Chinese people” by meeting with the Dalai Lama. This is a favorite phrase of Chinese officialdom, as James Fallows notes. One Chinese blogger took it upon himself to comb through the People’s ...
As Jerome reported in yesterday's This Week in China, the Chinese government criticized French President Nicolas Sarkozy for hurting "the feelings of the Chinese people" by meeting with the Dalai Lama. This is a favorite phrase of Chinese officialdom, as James Fallows notes.
As Jerome reported in yesterday’s This Week in China, the Chinese government criticized French President Nicolas Sarkozy for hurting “the feelings of the Chinese people” by meeting with the Dalai Lama. This is a favorite phrase of Chinese officialdom, as James Fallows notes.
One Chinese blogger took it upon himself to comb through the People’s Daily archives to rank the countries and organizations that have hurt Chinese feelings the most. The superb China media blog Danwei.org shares the results:
- Japan: 47 times, starting in 1985
- USA: 23 times, starting in 1980, when Los Angeles flew the ROC flag
- NATO: 10 times, mostly relating to the 1999 Belgrade embassy bombing
- India: 7 times, starting in 1986 and mostly relating to border issues
- France: 5 times, starting in 1989
- Nobel Committee: 4 times
- Germany: 3 times, starting with a meeting with the D?l?i L?m? in 1990
- Vatican City: 3 times, starting in 2000
- EU: 2 times, starting in 1996
- Guatemala: 2 times, both in 1997
- Indonesia: in 1959, when a newspaper inflamed anti-Chinese sentiment
- Albania: in 1978, for criticism of Chairman Mao and the Chinese Communist Party
- Vietnam: in 1979, for a high official’s slander of China
- UK: in 1994, over the Taiwan issue
- The Netherlands: in 1980, over the government authorizing a company to provide submarines to Taiwan
- Iceland: in 1997, for allowing Lien Chan to visit
- Jordan: in 1998, for allowing Lien Chan to visit
- Nicaragua: in 1995, for supporting Taiwan’s bid to join the UN
- South Africa: in 1996, for proposing a two-China policy
In case that wasn’t clear enough, there’s a map of countries that have offended China:
Have you ever hurt China’s feelings?
Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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