Little Pink Explained

Little Pink [1] is a term used to describe young jingoistic Chinese nationalists on the internet.[2] [3]

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.[4] They are primarily active on social media sites banned in China such as Twitter and Instagram.[5] They have been compared to the Red Guards of the Cultural Revolution.[6]

History

The term Little Pink originated on the website (Chinese: 晋江文学城), when a group of users kept strongly criticizing people who published posts containing negative news about China.[7] [8] 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.

In the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Little Pink drew international attention for their role in contributing to the mostly pro-war, pro-Russia sentiments on the Chinese internet.[9]

Responses

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.

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.[10] 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.[11]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Jing . Xuanlin . 7 May 2019 . Online nationalism in China and the 'Little Pink' generation . saisobserver.org . . live . 27 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200727171141/https://saisobserver.org/2019/05/07/online-nationalism-in-china-and-the-little-pink-generation/ . 27 July 2020.
  2. News: The East is pink . . 13 August 2016 . 27 July 2020 . 27 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200727173625/https://www.economist.com/china/2016/08/13/the-east-is-pink . live .
  3. News: December 29, 2022 . Inside China's online nationalist army . 2022-12-30 . . en-GB.
  4. News: Zhuang . Pinghui . 26 May 2017 . The rise of the Little Pink: China's angry young digital warriors . . live . 27 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200727154854/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2095458/rise-little-pink-chinas-young-angry-digital-warriors . 27 July 2020.
  5. News: Ruan . Lotus . The New Face of Chinese Nationalism . . live . 27 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200727154853/https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/25/the-new-face-of-chinese-nationalism/ . 27 July 2020.
  6. News: Meisenholder . Jana . March 2019 . China's 'Little Pink' army is gearing up to invade the Internet . . live . 27 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200727214001/https://international.thenewslens.com/article/114620 . 27 July 2020.
  7. Wei . Zikui . 2019-10-01 . China's Little Pinks? . . en . 59 . 5 . 822–843 . 10.1525/as.2019.59.5.822 . 0004-4687 . 210355572.
  8. Fang . Kecheng . Repnikova . Maria . June 2018 . Demystifying 'Little Pink': The creation and evolution of a gendered label for nationalistic activists in China . . en . 20 . 6 . 2162–2185 . 10.1177/1461444817731923 . 1461-4448 . 47019445.
  9. News: Why the Chinese internet is cheering Russia's invasion. Yuan. Li. The New York Times. 27 February 2022. 21 March 2022. 28 February 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220228124929/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/business/china-russia-ukraine-invasion.html. live.
  10. News: Hsia. Hsiao-hwa. 21 October 2021. 'Fragile' song pillorying China's online troll army gets millions of views. Radio Free Asia. 22 October 2021. 22 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211022013348/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/trolls-fragile-10212021125002.html. live.
  11. News: Kammerer . Peter . Patriotism gone awry: China's fragile 'little pinks' are on a dangerous Trump-like warpath . 17 November 2021 . . 3 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211104001705/https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154434/patriotism-gone-awry-chinas-fragile-little-pinks-are-dangerous?module=perpetual_scroll&pgtype=article&campaign=3154434 . 4 November 2021.

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