Foreigner-bashing rises amid Chinas domestic woes

This is an unsettled time in China because of the political transition, said James McGregor,a senior counselor for consulting firm APCO Worldwide.

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

First,videos of rude foreigners went viral in Chinese cyberspace,then a Beijing police crackdown on visitors without valid visas drew fervent applause,and finally,a state TV host urged his countrymen to toss out the foreign trash.

The latest anti-foreigner stirring in China has put the spotlight on outsiders at a time when its leaders would welcome any distraction from the slowing economy,a high-level political scandal and a blind activists daring flight into U.S. custody.

The government also has exchanged bellicose rhetoric with the Philippines in a standoff over remote islands while state-run newspapers have attacked the American ambassador over the US involvement in the case of activist Chen Guangcheng.

Story continues below this ad

Chinas leaders and official media frequently blame foreigners for domestic woes,tapping into a nationalism fed by steady reminders of affronts at the hands of foreigners over the past two centuries. As the country prepares for a once-a-decade leadership transition this year already marred by the downfall of a top leader amid a murder investigation against his wife the government is more sensitive than ever about foreign interference.

This is an unsettled time in China because of the political transition, said James McGregor,a senior counselor for consulting firm APCO Worldwide.

So,I think they genuinely worry about foreigners agitating because they always turn to It must be the foreigners fault when things go wrong, said McGregor,also a former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

Earlier this month,an amateur video con Chinas Twitter-like sites showed a British man allegedly sexually assaulting a Chinese woman near a mall and then being beaten up by Chinese men.