Little Pink
Little Pink (Chinese: 小粉红; pinyin: xiǎo fěnhóng)[1] is a term used to describe young Chinese nationalists on the internet.[2][3] Some Western critics have described Little Pink as "ultranationalist".[4][5]
The Little Pink are different from members of the 50 Cent Party or Internet Water Army, as the Little Pink are not known to be paid for their work. In terms of demographics, according to Zhuang Pinghui of South China Morning Post, 83% of the Little Pink are female, with most of them between 18 and 24 years old. More than half of the Little Pink are from third- and fourth-tier cities in China.[6] This claim was contradicted by a research on The China Project, according to which the active participants of the movement in the notorious Di Ba Expedition (2015) were mostly males.[7][clarification needed] They are primarily active on social media sites banned in China such as Twitter and Instagram.[8]
History
[edit]The term Little Pink originated when a group of users started strongly criticizing people who published posts containing negative views and news about China.[9][10] It was used as a derogatory term referencing the background color of website Jinjiang Literature City, from which the group was believed to come from. However, this link was mistakenly exaggerated by the Weibo user who coined the term.[7] Within Jinjiang Literature City, this group became known as the "Jinjiang Girl Group Concerned for the Country", or the Little Pink, which was the main color of the website's front page.[6][8] They have been compared to the Red Guards of the Cultural Revolution.[11]
According to Yu Liang, the Little Pink movement origins from complex feelings in Chinese digitalized youth. Among these: the desire to feel taken seriously, especially in comparison to the western world; the opposition to Chinese and international "universalist" intellectuals, as Little Pink feel failed by the promises of 90s universalism and "end of history"; celebration of the Chinese State and state-owned enterprises, linked to a rise of marxist views, as a reaction to the unbecoming inequalities in Chinese society; sense of individual failure and powerlessness, related to the lying flat movement.[12]
In the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Little Pink expressed pro-Russia sentiments on the Chinese internet.[13]
Responses
[edit]The Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper People's Daily and its daily tabloid Global Times have both lavished praise on the Little Pink, as has the Communist Youth League of China.[6]
In October 2021, the Little Pink were the subject of criticism by the satirical song "Fragile" by Malaysian singer Namewee and Australian singer Kimberley Chen.[14] A commentary in the South China Morning Post opined that in response to the song, the Little Pink should have reflected on the dangers of their fervent nationalism, instead of "pouring out vitriol at the rapper, song and supporters". The commentary compared their path and its dangers to the one taken by supporters of Donald Trump in the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[15]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Jing, Xuanlin (7 May 2019). "Online nationalism in China and the 'Little Pink' generation". saisobserver.org. Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ "The East is pink". The Economist. 13 August 2016. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ Asada, K.; Munakata, A.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, C.; Li, G. (29 December 2022). "Inside China's online nationalist army". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
- ^ Garrick, John (3 September 2021). "The domestic and international consequences of Xi's political philosophy". Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
To understand the wave of 'little pink' ultra-nationalism washing across the People's Republic of China, it's instructive to examine 'Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era'.
- ^ Cole, J. Michael (5 August 2021). "Olympics highlight dangerous Han supremacy in China: J. Michael Cole for Inside Policy". Macdonald–Laurier Institute.
- ^ a b c Zhuang, Pinghui (26 May 2017). "The rise of the Little Pink: China's angry young digital warriors". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ a b Tao, Anthony (15 November 2017). "China's 'Little Pink' are not who you think". The China Project. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
- ^ a b Ruan, Lotus. "The New Face of Chinese Nationalism". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ Wei, Zikui (1 October 2019). "China's Little Pinks?". Asian Survey. 59 (5): 822–843. doi:10.1525/as.2019.59.5.822. ISSN 0004-4687. S2CID 210355572.
- ^ Fang, Kecheng; Repnikova, Maria (June 2018). "Demystifying 'Little Pink': The creation and evolution of a gendered label for nationalistic activists in China". New Media & Society. 20 (6): 2162–2185. doi:10.1177/1461444817731923. ISSN 1461-4448. S2CID 47019445.
- ^ Meisenholder, Jana (March 2019). "China's 'Little Pink' army is gearing up to invade the Internet". The News Lens. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ "Mapping China's Youth Culture: Little Pink's Evolution". 6 March 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
- ^ Li, Yuan (27 February 2022). "Why the Chinese internet is cheering Russia's invasion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
- ^ Hsia, Hsiao-hwa (21 October 2021). "'Fragile' song pillorying China's online troll army gets millions of views". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ Kammerer, Peter (3 November 2021). "Patriotism gone awry: China's fragile 'little pinks' are on a dangerous Trump-like warpath". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
