Loathsome Hui Parasites: Islamophobia, Ethnic Chauvinism and Everyday Nationhood on the Chinese Internet

Ethnonationalist and chauvinistic abuse of Muslims on China’s social media platforms noticeably increased following Xi Jinping’s declaration of a “People’s War on Terror” in April 2014. This wave of harassment coincided with the regime’s use of official language that characterized the influence of “foreign” Islam as akin to a deadly viral contagion that would promote extremism.

To further understand the socio-political dynamics that underline this wave of abuse, this presentation assesses the ways in which Islamophobia plays a key role in establishing boundaries of national identity and defining Chineseness. It does so through an examination of posts made to Chinese social media platforms — namely the question and answer site Zhihu and the microblogging site Sina Weibo — from the start of Xi’s “People’s War on Terror” to the present day.

The speaker, David Stroup, is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Politics at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and expert…