China’s gaze towards the West: anti-Baizuo discourse and digital nationalism during the COVID-19 pandemic

Thesis

With the rise in cross-border news consumption on social media in China, internet users have become increasingly exposed to current affairs in the West. With this exposure, Chinese netizens are increasingly engaged with, and able to construct their own opinions about, current affairs. Amid the ongoing tensions between China and the United States in particular, social media research provides a unique insight into grassroots perspectives and popular sentiments that differ from the more widely studied top-down discourses. In light of such advances, this thesis develops an understanding of how Chinese netizens utilise, engage with, and perceive the liberal West vis-à-vis the popular neologism, “baizuo” (白左). The term, meaning “white left”, serves as a derogatory neologism that encapsulates both racial and political dimensions and is used to criticise Western liberals or “lefties” who align with left-leaning, politically correct, or “woke” perspectives.

Through conducting discourse analysis of over 330 Weibo posts containing the term, this study delves into the intricacies of anti-baizuo discourse by tracing the term’s development during the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring its racial and cultural connotations, and uncovering its connection to broader Chinese nationalist ideologies. The findings reveal the fluid and context-specific nature of the term and how it serves as a tool for Chinese netizens to express nationalist and anti-Western sentiments, particularly in response to global geopolitical tensions and the pandemic. The study uncovers how “baizuo” is used not only to highlight and critique Western liberalism – underscoring perceived shortcomings in Western responses to global challenges – but also to express deeper frustrations with Western values and to bolster Chinese national pride and unity. By examining how such sentiments are constructed at the grassroots level by netizens, this research aims to further understandings of contemporary Chinese nationalism beyond the assumptions that it is solely state-driven.

Authors: Bryant, K

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-nymok4kyg
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: baizuo; pandemic nationalism; COVID-19; digital nationalism; Chinese nationalism