DaiWW@BeijingDai
let's keep talking About the Anti-India Wave on Chinese Social Media
We know that the intensity of anti-any country sentiment on Chinese social media generally correlates with the current state of relations between China and that country. Right now, China-India relations have improved compared to the border conflict years ago. So it's somewhat unexpected that the current anti-India wave is much stronger than a few years ago. This has led some to suspect that certain forces might be behind it.
Some say it's because a large number of Indians have recently entered China. That is true — China has issued over 280,000 visas to Indians. But much of the anti-India content on Chinese social media is fabricated. For example, claims that an Indian patient in a Hangzhou hospital refused to pay, or that an Indian pooped in a dressing room — you can ask any AI about these. Yes, some Indians in China do behave poorly, some have been seen bathing in rivers. But the situation is nowhere near as bad as social media makes it out to be.
In fact, Indians coming to China benefits China — that's exactly why the visas are being issued. Indians come for business, helping China achieve a $100 billion annual trade surplus with India. Indian middle-class tourists, who can afford flights and hotels, are good for China's economy. With the escalating trade war between China and the West, Beijing can hardly afford to give up the Indian market.
Some worry about mass Indian immigration to China. That's impossible. China's immigration policy is strict — getting permanent residency or citizenship is extremely hard. Aside from the rare case of a Chinese woman marrying an Indian man, Indians cannot immigrate to China on anything like the scale seen in Western countries.
Back to the main point: Why is there so much anti-India disinformation on Chinese social media? I'm inclined to believe it's from the Japanese. It's an open secret that over the past few decades, Japan has been cultivating pro-Japan elements in China, paying them to say good things about Japan. Now Japan is under immense pressure from China, but the Chinese media environment no longer tolerates any pro-Japan messaging. I think they've changed tactics.
From Japan's perspective, if they can create trouble for China and strain its relations with neighbors, that would reduce pressure on Japan. That's why we see Japan forming alliances with the Philippines and Japan's prime minister aggressively visiting South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and others. But stirring up trouble between China and maritime neighbors isn't the most effective — it only pushes China to strengthen its military in the maritime domain, and those assets could be used against Japan.
For Japan, the ideal scenario is friction between China and its land neighbors — namely India and Russia. That would force China to invest military resources on land, which are largely useless in a maritime confrontation with Japan. Every mountain brigade China builds means one fewer aircraft carrier that could be used against Japan. And these fake news stories about Indians is very Japanese style, strikingly similar to the fake news Japanese right-wingers have long spread about Chinese people.
To sum up: I have no evidence, but I strongly suspect the recent anti-India wave on Chinese social media is being stirred up by the Japanese. I expect they will also start spreading anti-Russia disinformation in China. We Chinese should be rational and objective about Indians. Indians of course are not our friends — but they are also not our main enemy. Japan is.
