Unsurprisingly, there are no official statistics available on patriotic and nationalist sentiment in China, but if there were they would make for interesting reading.
National spirit in China is not just that misty-eyed feeling one gets when the Irish rugby team beat England at Twickenham (or anywhere else for that matter). With China on the up economically, but relations with Japan at an all-time low, nationalism here much much more than that. Almost every social and cultural activity is infused with nationalist spirit, from computer games to pop star fashions. More than that, nationalism is a political weapon, a convenient plug for the gaping hole left by the demise of communism, and, as such, something the authorities are keen to foster.
So, despite the shortage of official stats, one would expect the level of national pride in China to be high, very high indeed. Perhaps seeking to fill the statistical void and confirm this trend, someone at the popular 163.com website apparently decided to quantify national pride in China by finding out how many citizens would choose to be Chinese if they were born again. The results, though, were surprising, with more than 60% of the respondents indicating that they would not choose to be Chinese.
As soon as the authorities caught this faint whiff of a controversy (with its potential to spark debate on the taboo topic of Chinese national identity), the official clamdown, was swift, clean and thorough. The South China Morning Post reports that two editors - Tang Yan and Liu Xianghui- from Netease, the company running the website that organised the survey, have been sacked and the poll and its results have been taken down.
As reported by Danwei on Sept 11th, the survey asked respondents if they were to be reincarnated would they choose to be Chinese again. The unexpected results, as noted by Danwei, were as follows:
38.1%: No, because Chinese people get no respect.
17.4%: No, because you can’t afford a house in China, and the good life is too far off.
0.4%: No, because you can’t see good cartoons in China.
0.7%: No, because you can’t make spoof videos in China.
7.8%: No, no reason.
6.3%: Yes, I want to be a descendant of the dragon.
1.7%: Yes, because China’s economy is developing and the future is bright.
6.7%: Yes, because China’s long history and vast culture fills me with pride.
2.7%: Yes, because I’m currently pretty happy, and I trust it will be the same in the future.
18.2%: Yes, because I love my homeland, no other reason.
These results were based on 10,234 responses.
