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The pressure on Chinese athletes to triumph at the Olympics has never been greater and those who do not win gold are accused of being unpatriotic, as the BBC’s Waiyee Yip reports.
Mixed Doubles Table Tennis China Team he apologized by crying at the Tokyo Olympics last week for winning a silver medal.
“I feel like I failed with the team… sorry everyone,” said Liu Shiwen, bowing in apology with tears in his eyes.
His counterpart Xu Xin added, “The whole country was looking forward to this final. I think the whole Chinese team cannot accept this result.
Their defeat in the final to Japan, in a sport often dominated by the Chinese, left many angry internet users.
On the Weibo microblogging platform, “keyboard warriors” attacked the couple, claiming they had “failed the nation”.
Others baselessly accused the referees of favoring Japan’s Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito.
Chinese nationalists see members of the national Olympic delegation as more than just athletes.
In the middle of the nationalist fever which has exploded in the country, racking up Olympic medals has become so much more than sporting glory.
For the ultra-nationalist crowd, losing an Olympic medal is equivalent to being “unpatriotic”, according to experts explained to the BBC.
“For these people, the Olympic medal charts are real-time indicators of national prowess and, by extension, national dignity,” said Florian Schneider, director of the Leiden Asia Center in the Netherlands.
“In this context, someone who fails in a competition against foreigners let down or even betray the nation“.
The table tennis match was a particularly bitter pill to swallow as it was a loss for Japan, with whom China shares a tumultuous history.
The Japanese occupation of Manchuria in northern China in 1931, before the start of a broader six-year war, killed millions of Chinese. It is still a sensitive point between the two nations.
For the Chinese nationalists, therefore, the match was not just an athletic event, Schneider explained. “It’s a showdown between China and Japan.”
There was a lot of anti-Japanese sentiment on Weibo throughout the game, with Chinese users hurling all kinds of slurs at Mizutani and Ito.
But the problem is not only with Japan, nor with table tennis.
Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen from China they were attacked on the internet when they lost their doubles badminton final to Taiwan.
“Aren’t they awake? They made no effort. said a user on Weibo.
Chinese netizens were furious when the (empty) Chinese team lost the men’s badminton doubles gold to Taiwanese players.
Tensions between China and Taiwan have skyrocketed in recent years. China sees Taiwan as a separatist province, but many Taiwanese disagree and see their country as an independent nation.
Other Chinese athletes who came under fire included sniper Yang Qian, despite the fact that he won the first Tokyo Games gold medal.
Why was he criticized? For an old post on Weibo where he showed his collection of Nike shoes.
Many didn’t like it, as the brand was among those boycotted for its pledge to stop using Xinjiang cotton that is believed to be harvested through forced labor.
“As a Chinese athlete, why should you collect Nike shoes? Shouldn’t you be leading the way by boycotting Nike?” One comment read.
Yang deleted the message.
Yang Qian has been criticized for posting photos of her Nike shoes.
Her teammate Wang Luyao also faced the wrath of netizens when she failed to secure a place in the women’s 10-meter air rifle final.
“Were you sent to the Olympics to represent the country just to weaken you?” Read a comment.
The criticisms against him were so damning that Weibo suspended the accounts of around 33 userslocal media said.
“Small rosés”
Given the competitive nature of the Olympics, worrying about losses is of course not unique to China.
In Singapore, star swimmer Joseph Schooling has come under heavy criticism after failing to defend his crown in the 100-meter butterfly last week.
The criticisms became so vile that several heads of government, including President Halimah Yacob, came to ask for his help.
But the online outrage seen in China appears to be more pronounced, and not just because its population is massive and internet savvy.
“The so-called ‘little roses’, or young people with strong nationalist feelings, they have a disproportionate voice online, ”says Jonathan Hassid, political science expert at Iowa State University.
“In part, this voice is amplified because legitimate criticism of the state is increasingly unacceptable.”
Nationalism in China has increased considerably in recent years, as its global influence has grown and any international criticism is seen as an attempt to stop its development.
The Olympics also took place on the heels of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) centenary celebrations on July 1, in which President Xi Jinping delivered a provocative speech on how China will never be “intimidated” by foreign powers.
“The authorities have indicated that nationalism is the right way to understand current affairs, and now citizens turn to this framework when they need to understand China’s role in the world,” Schneider said.
“The Chinese public has been told that national success is important, and now Chinese athletes must achieve this success in Tokyo. “
The Olympics followed the flamboyant centenary of the Chinese Communist Party.
Schneider and other experts point out, however, that these angry reactionary nationalists do not represent the majority of Chinese.
“If the only voices still allowed are those of the loudest nationalists, it is not surprising that their voices can disproportionately dominate internet discussion compared to their actual number, ”says Hasid.
Amid the outrage seen on Weibo, the Chinese delegation also enjoyed broad support, with some criticizing the trolls for their “irrationality.”
For this reason, the state media also urged the public to be more “rational”.
“I hope that all of us in front of the screen will establish a rational vision of gold medals, of victory and defeat, to take advantage of (…) the Olympic spirit,” said a comment from the Xinhua news agency.
Experts say this indicates where the “danger” lies, when nationalism seems to have gone too far, even for the state.
“The CCP tries to exploit nationalism on the Internet for its own ends, but events like this show that once Chinese citizens get angry, the state finds it very difficult to control these feelings“, Hasid dice.
“Harnessing nationalist sentiment is like riding a tiger. Once up, it’s hard to control and it’s hard to get off.”
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