Drinks brand in online nationalist controversy

China's richest man and his company accused of being pro-Japan

Mar 16, 2024

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China’s wealthiest person, Zhōng Shǎnshǎn 钟睒睒, has come under fire from online nationalists.

He is the founder of Nongfu Spring (农夫山泉 nóngfū shānquán), the Hangzhou-based bottled water and soft drinks giant.

Criticism of the entrepreneur and his company, started in late February following the passing of Zong Qinghou 宗庆后, the founder of Wahaha Group, which we discussed in this newsletter two weeks ago.

Wahaha is a competitor of Nongfu which is also headquartered in Hangzhou.

A vlogger claimed that "Zhong Shanshan was ungrateful to Wahaha founder Zong Qinghou," making the false accusation of how Zhong "betrayed" Wahaha Group, while further attacking Nongfu Spring.
The company’s official Weibo immediately responded in a pinned post by Zhong, in which he rejected the false accusations.
有视频博主设定了“钟睒睒对宗庆后忘恩负义”这个议题，延伸出钟睒睒所谓“背叛”娃哈哈的这个虚假命题，进而攻击农夫山泉。农夫山泉官微第一时间澄清，置顶了钟睒睒的亲笔解释，否认了一些虚假指控。 [3]

Nongfu Spring is also accused of being unpatriotic and “pro-Japan.”

The imagery on the packaging of its products, according to accusations, includes Mount Fuji (富士山) on its bottles, the red bottle caps which look like the Japanese Rising Sun Flag (旭日旗), and the design of its Oriental Leaf drink (东方树叶) packaging, which resembles the Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社).

To add to the nationalist argument, Zhong's son holds an American passport. And according to some interpretations, even his son’s name sounds suspicious:

"Look, he named his son Zhong Shuzi. This name sounds very Japanese!"
你看看，他给他儿子都取名钟墅子了，这名字，多日本啊！

As the online controversy grew, Nongfu Spring's Hong Kong shares plunged, wiping off around 30 billion yuan ($4 billion) in market value from the company within days.

But there are many observers in the media and on social media who reject the claims, even if they don’t like Nongfu products.

They argue the supposed Japanese influences in designs could also be Chinese, and there are plenty of Chinese entrepreneurs whose kids have taken on other nationalities, like the daughters of Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, for example, who both hold foreign passports. In fact, one of his daughters, Sabrina Meng (孟晚舟 Mèng Wǎnzhōu), is seen as a national hero in China.

But that hasn’t stopped the online criticism of Nongfu Spring, and Zhong:

The attack on Nongfu Spring has been going on for a week with no sign of cooling down. Instead, as nationalist trolls and internet celebrities waded in, this crisis has intensified.
针对农夫山泉的这场危机已经轰轰烈烈开展了一个星期，话题热度不仅没有自然冷却，反而随着各路牛鬼蛇神和流量博主的加入有愈烧愈旺之势。

This is just one of a recent wave of nationalist online influencers, or “positive energy bloggers” (正能量博主), taking to social media criticising unpatriotic brands and public figures.

Another is linked to the Chinese Nobel prize-winning novelist and short story writer, Mo Yan 莫言.

A lawsuit filed last month by a “positive energy blogger”, demands the author apologise to the Chinese people, the country's martyrs and Mao, and pay damages of 1.5 billion yuan ($208 million), one yuan for each person in China, for criticising their country and “pandering the West", (崇洋媚外 chóng yáng mèi wài), an idiom we have learned before in this newsletter.

One opinion shared in the media points to a new term describing this kind of online nationalist bully.

Be it the insidious "warhorse operation" in the shopping mall, or the recent lawsuit against Mo Yan, these people are just copying the same set of nationalist tactics to attract online traffic. Nongfu Spring happened to be singled out as the sitting target at the time of Zong Qinghou's death.
无论是之前到商场恶意碰瓷的战马行动，还是这阵子起诉莫言的那个谁，这些人其实都是在复制同一套爱国流量的密码，农夫山泉只是很不幸在宗庆后去世这个时间点被揪出来当成了活靶子。[2]

“Warhorse Operation” (战马行动) is the social media profile of a nationalist who calls out what he sees as “unpatriotic” brands and shops in China’s shopping malls for using Japanese imagery.

His account has now been removed.

But the term “warhorse” (战马 zhànmǎ) has stuck. It mean a “nationalist blogger” who aligns themselves with hawkish “Wolf Warrior” (战狼) official rhetoric, which, even according to the state media, is harmful to China:

It’s characterised as "hindering" and "harming” the country, and making money through by being patriotic online."
把这个行动定性为“碍国”、“害国”以及“爱国生意”。
Note: The characters for “patriotic” (爱国 ài guó) and “hindering China” (碍国 ài guó) sound the same in Chinese.

Frothing nationalists aside, as always, there's some entertaining puns and wordplay in the Nongfu media storm, with some internet users adapting an advertising slogan of the bottled water brand to describe the mess it now finds itself in:

“Nongfu Spring, is kind of sweet” (农夫山泉，有点甜)
Is now…
“Nongfu Spring, is in kind of a mess” (农夫山泉，有点悬)
The characters for "sweet" (甜 tián) and "in a mess" (悬 xuán) in Chinese rhyme and are both second tone.

So, that's what we're exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 媚日 mèi rì

pro-Japanese

疑云重重，农夫山泉深陷“媚日风波” - Doubts abound as Nongfu Spring is caught in the "pro-Japan" controversy. [1]
Related:
精日 jīng rì - pro-Japanese
崇洋媚外 chóng yáng mèi wài - pro-Western, suck up to the West

2. 战马 zhàn mǎ

warhorse, hawkish nationalist

无论是之前到商场恶意碰瓷的战马行动，还是这阵子起诉莫言的那个谁，这些人其实都是在复制同一套爱国流量的密码 - Be it the insidious "warhorse operation" in the shopping mall, or the recent lawsuit against Mo Yan, these people are just copying the same set of nationalist tactics to attract online traffic. [2]
More: Specifically those who are vocal online.

3. 带节奏 dài jié zòu

to manipulate the situation, to mislead public opinion

我觉得更像是部分网友为了搏流量，在恶意带节奏 - I feel it's more like some internet users are manipulating th public opinion to gain more traffic. [1]
Note: Originally from the gaming world, also a favourite of China's "Wolf Warrior" diplomats.

4. 上纲上线 shàng gāng shàng xiàn

to exaggerate the importance of a matter; to go too far

网络言论有一条界线是不能突破的，这条界限就是阐述观点时上纲上线，传播信息时胡乱编造 - There is a red line that should not be crossed when it comes to speech on the internet: one should not take trivial things as a matter of principle or spread false information. [3]
Note: A Cultural Revolution phrase which is now used to describe frothing online trolls who take things too far.

5. 牛鬼蛇神 niú guǐ shé shén

all sorts of evil creatures; internet trolls

随着各路牛鬼蛇神和流量博主的加入有愈烧愈旺之势 - As nationalist trolls and internet celebrities waded in, this crisis has intensified. [2]
Note: An important slogan during the Cultural Revolution to describe class enemies and now means “nationalist trolls” which we discuss more in the Sinica Phrase of the Week tomorrow.

Useful words

6. 悬 xuán

hang by a thread

农夫山泉，有点悬 - Nongfu Spring is in trouble. [1]

7. 撞脸 zhuàng liǎn

to resemble or look like

有网友发现农夫山泉旗下的茶π图样疑似“撞脸”日本靖国神社的正面和大门 - Some netizens discovered that the design of Nongfu Spring's Cha Pi Tea seems to "resemble" the facade and the gate of the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan. [1]
Related:
照抄 zhào chāo - to copy blindly

8. 实锤 shí chuí

irrefutable proof

这三种图样来看，确实无法实锤农夫山泉用的是日本独有的图 - From these three patterns, it's indeed impossible to find irrefutable evidence that Nongfu Spring is using a uniquely Japanese design. [1]

9. 锄奸 chú jiān

to root out traitors; to eliminate evil

针对农夫山泉的这场『锄奸行动』已经轰轰烈烈开展了一个星期 - This "campaign to root out traitors" against Nongfu Spring has continued intensely for a week. [2]

10. 冤枉 yuān wang

to be wronged; to be falsely accused

那，农夫山泉冤枉吗 - So, is Nongfu Spring being falsely accused? [2]

11. 栽赃 zāi zāng

to frame someone; to plant evidence on someone

之所以要反对战马行动，反对某些正能量博主的无赖碰瓷栽赃，是因为他们本质上是商业恐怖分子 - The reason for opposing the warhorse operation, which in this case is the despicable attempts of some "positive-energy influencers" to frame others, is that they are carrying out commercial terrorism. [2]

Three-character phrases

12. 摊上事 tān shang shì

get into a mess

最近，农夫山泉却摊上事了，摊上大事了 - Recently, Nongfu Spring has got into trouble, big trouble. [1]

13. 扣帽子 kòu mào zi

to label negatively

甚至，部分网友还给农夫山泉扣上了“媚日”的帽子 - Furthermore, some internet users have labeled Nongfu Spring as "pro-Japanese". [1]

14. 活靶子 huó bǎ zi

sitting target, sitting duck

农夫山泉只是很不幸在宗庆后去世这个时间点被揪出来当成了活靶子 - Nongfu Spring happened to be singled out as the sitting target at the time of the death of Zong Qinghou. [2]

15. 围观者 wéi guān zhě

on-lookers; spectators

将农夫山泉与所谓的媚日设计捆绑，引来了情绪更加激动的围观者 - Accusing Nongfu Spring of using allegedly pro-Japanese design has attracted even more emotionally charged on-lookers. [3]
Related:
吃瓜观众 chī guā guān zhòng - melon eating masses

Idioms

16. 牵强附会 qiān qiǎng fù huì

far-fetched

确实不该轻易被网暴带节奏，不轻易被牵强附会的解读所鼓动 - Indeed, one should not easily be swayed by online hate speech, nor be incited by far-fetched interpretation.[3]
Related:
牵强 qiān qiǎng - far-fetched

17. 高下立见 gāo xià lì jiàn

to see clearly the difference in quality

农夫山泉却为了节省成本只采用塑料包装，这，高下立见 - Nongfu Spring uses only plastic in packaging to save costs. This makes the difference in quality clear. [1]

18. 忘恩负义 wàng ēn fù yì

to be ungrateful and betray others

他曾经受到了许多人的帮助和支持，但他却忘恩负义，背叛了所有人的信任，现在已经成为大家口中的叛徒 - He once received help and support from many people, but he was ungrateful and betrayed everyone's trust. Now he has become known as a traitor. [2]

19. 捕风捉影 bǔ fēng zhuō yǐng

to treat the slightest hint as irrefutable evidence

说什么富士山、旭日旗、靖国神社的指责，那当然是捕风捉影的栽赃冤案 - The accusations about Mount Fuji, the Rising Sun flag, and the Yasukuni Shrine are of course groundless and based on figments of imagination. [2]

20. 遥遥领先 yáo yáo lǐng xiān

far ahead; leading by a wide margin

某遥遥领先品牌的大公主，乘坐国家包机接回深圳的那一位，是加拿大永久居民 - The princess of a "leading" brand, who was brought back to Shenzhen on a chartered flight, is a permanent resident of Canada. [2]
Note: A sarcastic adaptation of the original idiom which is used to poke fun at Huawei

21. 无可厚非 wú kě hòu fēi

understandable

一个产品主打差异化的卖点本身也无可厚非 - It is understandable that the selling point of a product is how different it is from the rest. [2]

Phrases

22. 舆论旋涡 yú lùn xuán wō

media storm

这次新政策的实施引发了舆论旋涡，许多人对此表达了不同的意见 - The implementation of this new policy has triggered a media storm, with many people expressing different opinions. [3]

23. 群众的眼睛是雪亮的 qún zhòng de yǎn jing shì xuě liàng de

the eyes of the masses are sharp

说白了，还是那句话，唯有真诚是永远的必杀技，群众的眼睛就是雪亮的 - To put it plainly, as the saying goes: sincerity is always the trump card, and the eyes of the masses are sharp. [1]
Note: Also a politically charged phrase used during the Cultural Revolution which Zoe discusses more in the podcast.

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