Overview

This book examines how government propaganda and everyday online activity shaped China’s digital nationalism in response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a focus on Weibo, it demonstrates how state media promoted nationalism and how the public responded by either supporting or quietly challenging official narratives, or reshaping them. Using a variety of methods, including large-scale social media analysis and focused case studies, the book shows how digital platforms became pivotal communication hubs during the pandemic. The book also examines state-led digital propaganda by outlets such as People's Daily, public reactions to China's vaccine policy, and the anger surrounding the Wuhan Red Cross scandal. Together, these cases reveal how emotion, visibility, and participation interact to sustain ""soft authoritarianism,"" a form of governance based not only on censorship, but also on managing public sentiment and engagement. Accessible and timely, this book provides a new perspective on the relationship between propaganda, nationalism, and digital media. It illustrates how nationalism and political authority are co-produced online and how governments and citizens negotiate power in an increasingly digital society. This book will be invaluable for scholars and students of political communication and digital media, as well as for those interested in the digital society of China.

Full Product Details

9781041308775

Table of Contents

Reviews

""The recent pandemic generated both intense online nationalism in China but also the expression of grievances. This well-researched book provides fascinating insights into the role played by social media, which may be a harbinger of things to come."" Ralph Schroeder, University of Oxford, UK ""Using the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, this book examines how nationalism is co-produced by state actors and citizens in China. It is particularly valuable for its detailed mapping of the discourses on one social media platform—Sina Weibo—in these processes."" Guobin Yang, University of Pennsylvania, USA ""This book offers a sharp, timely analysis of how digital nationalism took shape on Weibo during COVID-19, revealing the dynamic interplay between state messaging and grassroots expression. Through rich cases and a mixed-methods approach, it demonstrates how digital platforms mediate power, identity, and emotion, making a valuable contribution to understanding politics in the digital age."" Taberez Ahmed Neyazi, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Author Information

Dechun Zhang (PhD, Leiden University) is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Communication at the University of Copenhagen. His work examines political communication, digital politics, propaganda, and online activism. He has published widely in international journals and edited volumes on political communication and digital media.

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