Social Media, Populism, and COVID-19: Weibo Users’ Reactions to Anti-Chinese Discourse

Abstract

US government communication about the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the ‘Chinese virus’ discourse adopted by Donald Trump and his administration, has led to real-world violence and triggered heated discussions across social media sites, including Sina Weibo (aka Chinese Twitter). The current study explores the relationship between populism and social media by examining how Sina Weibo users respond to Trump’s communication on the virus. Employing multimodal critical discourse analysis, we examine both visual and verbal strategies used to build counter-discourses that challenge the use of terms such as ‘Chinese virus’. Findings demonstrate the potential of Weibo as a platform of resistance and site where users contest social injustice and racism, but also as a dangerous space in which populist discourses can yield more populist discourses which influence public sentiment and potentially government policies and international relations.

Exploring the relationship between mental distress and cognitive dissonance across transnational identities using BMF analytics

“…To counter accusations of the origin and mishandling of COVID-19, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying repeatedly alluded to a connection between the virus outbreak and the Fort Detrick biological lab (Cheng et al, 2022). In this context, anti-west and anti-US sentiments had been fueled during COVID-19 in Chinese society and social media (Catalano & Wang, 2021). Western values such as individualism and universalism were stigmatized in this sociopolitical atmosphere, and people with these values and ideologies were forced to choose a side between China and the West (Tao, 2021).…”

The darkness of reacculturation: examining factors influencing depression among Chinese international student returnees in the post-COVID-19 era

“…Earlier studies have concluded that involuntary migration would lead to mental distress among migrants ( Hwang et al, 2007 ; Anbesaw et al, 2024 ). Secondly, their reentry was coupled with escalated Sino-US tension and Cybernationalism in China, where individuals with transnational and cosmopolitan identities were forced to take a stand between the China “us” and the West “them” ( Catalano and Wang, 2021 ; Yu, 2021 ). In this context, those with an individualistic value prioritization or those who defied quarantine prevention measures were stigmatized and discriminated against ( Jin and Wang, 2022 ).…”

“Somewhere I belong?” A study on transnational identity shifts caused by “double stigmatization” among Chinese international student returnees during COVID-19 through the lens of mindsponge mechanism

“…Political othering is a term to describe the tactic that demagogues generally adopt to consolidate their right-wing/farright populist voter base (Wodak, 2020). In this discourse, "us" will be described in a positive light and differentiated from "they" or "them, " which are usually accompanied by negative traits (Catalano and Wang, 2021). In the case of the COVID-19 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1018843 blame game, both the US and Chinese officials adopted political othering.…”

“…As a result, returnees experienced “double stigmatization”: the initial stigmatization was imposed by the US government and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s mask mandating rule, whereas the subsequent stigmatization stemmed from Chinese domestic anti-west populism/cyber-nationalism ( Yu, 2021 ). A few studies have been conducted on Chinese international students’ stigmatization abroad in western countries such as the US, the UK, and their social media ( Roberto et al, 2020 ; Catalano and Wang, 2021 ; Smith et al, 2022 ); yet limited research has been done in terms of domestic stigmatization occurred during the COVID-19 and how the double stigmatizations shifted these returnees’ transnational identity gradually. Therefore, the research aims to answer the following research questions,…”

“…For example, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying had repeatedly hinted at the correlation between the virus outbreak and the US biological lab at Fort Detrick to counter the US’s Wuhan Biolab Leak conspiracy theory ( Cheng et al, 2022 ). In this context, anti-west and anti-US sentiment had been fueled during COVID-19 in Chinese society and social media ( Catalano and Wang, 2021 ) to establish a “binary opposition” among netizens to coerce public figures with transnational identity or cosmopolitanism to take a stand between the China US and America Others ( Tao, 2021 , p. 634). For example, the Chinese controversial writer Fang Fang was stigmatized by netizens for her critical view of China in her published diary, where she recorded the mishandling of the local government ( Tao, 2021 ).…”