With her wide smile, Chinese blogger Guyanmuchan looks friendly on Weibo — a Chinese social network similar to Twitter. The young woman leads more than 6.4 million dedicated followers on the platform, in which she publishes images and videos on current topics.
But her brand’s beautiful aesthetic — its page features the dreamy image of a girl posing in a wood — hides its often acidic tone.
According to a recent post, the European Union is like “a dog on a leash” of the United States. In another post, the increase in Covid-19 cases in the state of Texas, USA, is proof of a “civil war” in which “Americans are killing each other with biological weapons”.
Guyanmuchan belongs to a new generation of bloggers known as the “ziganwu”, whose fame on Chinese social media has grown as nationalism rises in the country.
Its name is derived from “wumao”, the name given to the army of “trolls” (internet provocateurs) paid to spread state propaganda — but the difference is that the “ziganwu” do it for free.
Its acidic videos and texts, shared by tens of thousands of followers, often criticize the press and Western countries. Issues such as feminism, human rights, multiculturalism and democracy, considered part of the Western influence that “corrupt” Chinese society, are also questioned. Those who seem to “promote separatism,” such as Taiwan and Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, experts and intellectuals, also end up in his crosshairs.
His targets have already included writer Fang Fang, known for reporting the early stages of the Wuhan pandemic, which attracted international attention in late 2019. In a post that went viral last year, blogger “ziganwu” Shangdizhiying accused the writer of ” stab us deeply in the back” and create “one of the greatest weapons used by anti-Chinese forces to defame” the country.
More recently, epidemiologist Zhang Wenhong became a target of the “ziganwu” after suggesting that China should learn to live with Covid-19, in apparent contradiction to official speeches.
Several bloggers quickly found an old dissertation of his and accused him of plagiarism — an allegation his university later disproved.
A suggestion that children should drink milk for breakfast was taken as a sign that he rejected traditional Chinese morning food. “Isn’t that a lot of worship of the West and flattery of foreigners?” blogger Pingminwangxiaoshi wrote.
These posts can be shared by the dozens on social networks every day. They are often quick and emotional messages, which is one reason they go viral, experts say. “It’s ‘fast food’ nationalism,” as Chinese social media analyst Manya Koetse compares: “People nibble, share and forget.”
explosive mixture
Many people see the rise of Chinese nationalist sentiment as a result of growing tensions between China and the West — but this is only part of the story. While nationalism has grown in many places with globalization, it has coincided in China with the strong promotion of Chinese identity by leader Xi Jinping and the ubiquity of social media.
Many of the “ziganwu” are “young people whose upbringing was filled with patriotism and pride for the country, fueled by the historic memory of national humiliation,” according to Koetse. “It brought an explosive mix of pro-Chinese and anti-foreign sentiments, with an emphasis on Chinese culture and identity.”
The rise in its protagonism is surprising, as China has been imposing increasingly strict rules on internet publications, which result in heavy censorship of activists and ordinary citizens.
Posts on “sensitive” topics are often deleted from platforms like Weibo and WeChat. On the other hand, the voices that promote the official discourse of the Chinese government are less controlled, according to observers, and are even amplified by state media, which republish their texts or share their content on social networks.
It is not known whether these “ziganwu” bloggers have direct links to the government, but some have been invited to attend events or receive honorary titles from provincial governments.
Guyanmuchan, whose real name is Shu Chang, first became notorious in 2014 when his text titled “You are a Chinese person” was widely circulated in the mainstream press.
Since then, she has participated in a bloggers event sponsored by the Yantai city government and given a lecture organized by the state news portal Youth.cn. In addition, in July, she was named an “internet ambassador” for Guangdong Province, along with several other bloggers.
Guyanmuchan did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
symbiotic relationship
The “ziganwu” are just one part of a complex ecosystem.
Much of the nationalist discourse on Chinese social media, particularly on Weibo, is still promoted by the state press, which tends to encourage discussions, creating and promoting “hashtags”.
But there are also many smaller groups of influencers that fuel this “indignation machine,” including digital artists, smaller media, respected university professors, and even international “vloggers” (video producing bloggers).
China’s Internet regulations encourage users to actively promote advertising, so many of these influencers are simply exploiting this system, according to Harper Ke, an analyst at the think tank (research and debate center) Doublethink Lab.
“They are opportunists. If you want to make a career as an influencer on social media, this is a way to gain fame in this toxic nationalist environment,” says Ke.
While these influencers may not be paid directly by the government, they still benefit from promoting their profiles in the national press and use that recognition to build their personal brands, analysts say. As their number of followers grows, they can earn significant amounts from advertising or paid content.
Journalism and communications expert Fang Kecheng estimates that a social media account with more than one million followers could earn a few hundred thousand dollars (more than R$1 million) a year. And the government also benefits, according to experts.
By inviting the “ziganwu” to give talks, for example, the government delegates to them “the ideological work, turning bloggers into successful icons and role models,” adds Harper Ke.
Platforms like Weibo and WeChat play their part in promoting posts that encourage loyalty to the Communist Party, according to Dr. Fang, and benefit commercially: “It increases user participation and activity, so it’s a good strategy for them “he adds.
But there is a very fine line that, at times, some influencers have crossed with their fervor.
In recent months, some posts from “ziganwu” that speculated that Covid was a leak from an American laboratory and others attacking epidemiologist Zhang Wenhong have been deleted.
A inflammatory text calling for radical reforms of the communist regime also went viral and was broadcast by the state press, but was quickly censored after online controversies.
“Sometimes the rules about what can and cannot be said are very nebulous,” says Manya Koetse. “A single post on Weibo may be enough for these influencers to disappear.”
“They can be useful for official discourse as long as their personal convictions are in line with the governmental position, but as soon as they are no longer considered useful or are perceived as contrary to the discourse [do governo], they will disappear,” according to her.
But many are prepared to participate in this high-stakes game.
In late September, Guyanmuchan was banned from posting new content on her Weibo page for 15 days. The platform claimed that she had “violated community norms”.
She immediately promoted an old post by directing readers to an alternate page, where she continued to post her daily barrage of inflammatory messages.
“I created this little account,” she says, “just in case something happens.”
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