ALFP e-magazine issue 1: Democracy

Populism behind the Great Firewall of China
Ako Tomoko (Japan)
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo /ALFP Advisory Committee Member

Populism is spreading across the globe: just some examples are the United Kingdom’s decision towithdraw from the European Union (“Brexit”), Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential
election, and intensifying anti-Japanese, anti-Chinese, and anti-Korean attitudes in Asia. One
might assume populism to be a phenomenon unique to democratic nations, a strain of thought
absent in countries like China, but populist stirrings are now emerging even there.
Populism is a political style through which politicians seek to transcend fixed, traditional
support bases and appeal to a wider public (“the people”). Political scientist Mizushima Jirō
characterizes the movement as a “critique of established politics and the prevailing elite from thestandpoint of the people.”1 Populists aim to give the general public a voice in opposition to theestablished political structure and elite classes—a reformist perspective with deep roots in thepeople’s mistrust of democratic institutions that ostensibly fail to reflect their will.
Who are “the people” then? Quoting Margaret Canovan, Mizushima outlines threeclassifications of what “the people” represents:2 (1) ordinary people (the “silent majority” whom
the privileged have largely ignored), (2) united people (the people of a country, not the specificorganizations and factions that divide it, who share in a single, common will); and (3) our people(a homogenous grouping of similar individuals who identify themselves as citizens or membersof an ethnic group, often distinguishing itself from outsiders including foreigners, people ofdifferent ethnicities, and religious minorities).
In China, the Constitution defines “the people” as “workers and peasants.” As a “people’sdemocratic dictatorship,” according to Article 1 of the document, China positions workers andpeasants as a ruling, dictatorial class that plays the central role in opposition to the capitalist class.
However, the Constitution also defines the Communist Party as the embodiment of the Three
Represents: the development trend of China’s advanced productive forces, the orientation of itsadvanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinesepeople.
In doing so, the document effectively opens the Communist Party to private-sector
entrepreneurs—the representation of “advanced productive forces.” The Chinese Constitution
thus presents a contradiction, simultaneously claiming itself to be a “people’s state” whereworkers and peasants represent the masters of society but also admitting the would-be capitalist
enemies of the “people” into the fold.
The term zhonghuaminzu (the Chinese nation or the Chinese ethnicities) is another key
driver behind the Chinese conception of the “people.” Emphasizing the notion that “the Chinese
dream is the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” leaders stress a vision of comprehensive
unity among all the segments of the zhonghuaminzu (ethnic minorities, Hong Kongers, andJirō Mizushima, Popyurizumu to wananika: Minshu-shugi no tekika, kaikaku no kibōka [Populism: Enemy ofdemocracy or hope for reform?] (Chukoron-Shinsha, 2016).
2 Margaret Canovan, “Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy,” Political Studies 47, no.1
(1999): 2–16.
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ALFP e-magazine issue 1: Democracy

Taiwanese included) in unbending opposition to the hostile foreign forces threatening thesolidarity of the multi-ethnic Chinese state.
In reality, however, Chinese nationalism is relatively weak. The rhetoric’s emphasis on
banding together against “hostile foreign forces” betrays a weakness in the nation’s overallsolidarity in and of itself, revealing the country’s trepidations about the influx of foreign capitaland ideologies. The government often claims that ethnic minority issues undermine Chinese
solidarity, as well. While the country points to outside capital and concerns about minorities as
hurdles to unification, the biggest threat to zhonghuaminzu unity is the fragmentary, segmented
structure of the Han race. The rich-poor gap is a gulf of disparity—and that class stratification isessentially inborn, as one’s household register largely defines one’s standing. Systems foruniversity entrance examinations and social security vary from region to region, as well, withpeople in major urban centers at a distinct advantage over their rural counterparts. Reconcilingthe interests of the divergent social strata in China is by no means a simple task.

Low-income neighborhood in An Jia Lo, Beijing (in 2015)

Chinese Politics and Populism in the Internet Era
The late 1990s and early 2000s represented a golden age for social media in China. For people
who had long lacked a full voice in political discourse, the internet provided a powerful platform
for discussions of virtually any topic, a medium for collaborative learning, and, in many ways, acatalyst for transformative enlightenment and solidarity. As flaming and fake news have shown,
though, the internet’s unprecedented freedom of speech can engender negative consequences. A
Chinese proverb says that ‘no disturbance leads to no solution, a small disturbance leads to asmall solution, and a big disturbance leads to a big solution’—and that mindset has taken on anew resonance. Netizens can now harness online resources to ignite popular uproar about issues
from the legal domain, making it easier to fuel bigger disturbances into outcomes that are morefavorable to them.

© 2018 International House of Japan and Japan Foundation

ALFP e-magazine issue 1: Democracy

Clashes between grassroots social media and state-run media are heating up, too.
Although social media helped the Weiquan movement, an activist effort to defend civil rights,
gain traction in the early 2000s, recent years have seen the government suppress spikes in online
civil rights-related activity by framing the dialogue as turbulence that jeopardizes social stability.
There have also been cases where popular sentiment on internet platforms has swayed
judicial decisions—even death sentences. As local governments wield authority over court
personnel affairs and budgetary matters, people in positions of power on a local scale tend toenjoy favorable judicial treatment. In that type of society, opinion in social media can play a rolein defending and supporting vulnerable groups. However, some harbor reservations about thefact that official court decisions can come down to which side proves itself more strident online.
Since Xi Jinping came to power, media censorship and efforts to manipulate popularsentiment have become more prevalent. Tighter restrictions on press, media, and academic
freedom have given lawyers, activists, and scholars challenging conditions to work under, but
stricter controls actually seem to reflect an increasingly wary stance on social media.
Ren Zhiqiang, an outspoken “Big V” opinion leader (an individual with large numbers offollowers on social media) in the real estate field saw his account closed after sounding off onsocial issues, for example. A university researcher lost his job for “having non-mainstream values”
after posting criticism of China’s history education policies online.
The Global Decline of Liberal Democracy and the Rise of Populism in China
Satō Takumi differentiates “public opinion” and “popular sentiment” along seven lines.

Public opinion➡

Popular sentiment

Quantifiable majority opinion

Definition

Analogous overall mood

Nineteenth-century/
bourgeoisie commonality

Ideal

Twentieth-century/fascist
commonality

Print media-based communication

Media

Electronic media-based control

Consensus through rational
discussion (parliamentarism)

Communality

Empathy through emotional
involvement (decisionism)

Public interest in authenticity(public views)

Decision-makingcriterion

Personal sentiments on appearances(individual judgments)

Legitimacy of “noble politics”

Value

Sense of participation in populardemocracy

Public, rhetorical stanceContent

Personal, genuine feelings

Source: Takumi Satō, Kōron to yoron: Nihon-tekimin’i no keifu-gaku [Public opinion and popular sentiment:
The genealogy of Japanese popular will] (Shinchō Sensho, 2008), 39.

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ALFP e-magazine issue 1: Democracy

Public opinion forms via the maturation of personal opinions into public perceptions;reaching a consensus through rational discussion is one example of public opinion formation.
On the other side is popular sentiment, which can both embody positive elements—participationin popular democracy and genuine feelings, for instance—and reflect fascist tendencies.
In a country where citizens have a limited voice in national politics, the advent of theinternet age brought about a boom in popular sentiment in early 2000s China. The government,
apprehensive about the potential perils of open online discourse, has taken steps to contain that
popular sentiment. However, one cannot expect China to have a foundation for rational
discussion in place of popular sentiments, either, as the sizable gap separating class strata and theminority issues affecting the Chinese people make inter-class communication quite the challenge.
That concern applies to more than just China: the same types of issues might also beaffecting immigrants and other segments of the population in Japan, Europe, and the UnitedStates. The patterns of populism, where barriers to inter-class communication result in groups
seeing each other as enemies, could manifest themselves in virtually any country.
Populism also has ties to propaganda, given its ability to bring people into the political
realm. Hitler, focusing specifically on appealing to the working classes, formed the National
Socialist German Workers’ Party (the Nazi party) in the hope of reintegrating workers into thenational body and co-opted the red flags and fiery oratory styles of the social democracy
movement to stir up support.
According to Satō, Hitler’s mode of democracy centered on mobilizing workers—whohad long been exiles from the world of print-driven education—and making the working classes
feel that they were pivotal players in the thick of political discourse. The conditions inmodern-day China pale in comparison to those in Hitler’s Germany, of course, but I think weneed to be aware of the potential for crisis: if populist upswells go too far, any country—be it
China, the United States under Donald Trump, or even Japan—could very well find itself in asituation that all too closely resembles the Nazi regime.
Satō underscores the importance of public opinion in overcoming fragmented classstructures and moral systems. However, in countries like China with large populations of
low-income earners lacking opportunities to gain knowledge and information, the process of
forming public opinion can be rife with roadblocks. Dealing with popular sentiment thus takes
precedence over consolidating public opinion.
The Chinese government is currently implementing measures to clamp down on lawyers,silence activists, and delete content on social media in order to keep demonstrations to aminimum, all in the name of “social stability.” In the short term, those initiatives might certainly
appear to be effective stabilizers—but is smothering adverse discourse a legitimate approach toensure sustainable development? We need to address these issues from a long-term perspective.

The contents of this article reflect solely the opinions of the author.

© 2018 International House of Japan and Japan Foundation