If the fact Chinese students sponsored and armed by the Chinese embassy ran rampant through the streets of Seoul beating and assaulting Korean civilians was not enough of hint maybe this is:
Chinese people like South Korea the least of all of their neighbors, according to the results of a survey released Monday. It is unusual for South Korea to rank ahead of Japan as China’s most unpopular neighbor.
In the survey of 12,000 Chinese people over the past four months by the International Herald Leader, a newspaper published by China’s official Xinhua News Agency, 40.1 percent of respondents said they dislike South Korea the most. Japan came in second place with 30.2 percent of the vote. The most-liked neighbor was Pakistan with 13.2 percent followed by Russia and Japan, the newspaper said. [Chosun Ilbo]
Popularity: 2%
11:42 am on July 15th, 2008 1
I noticed that story, too, and almost blogged about it until I saw the date - December 2007. It’s curious how old stories sometimes pop up in the most viewed section. The results don’t surprise me, though.
12:29 pm on July 15th, 2008 2
Chinese will return to Korea and Korea will hang themselves in fear, just as she did in the old days.
12:44 am on July 16th, 2008 3
This makes me curious as to why?
What could average Chinese be hearing about South Korea, and in what venues, to warrant such a rating?
South Korea does not have any real territorial disputes with China that could play out frequently in the media.
South Korea doesn’t have Korean troops stationed throughout China.
I don’t think South Korea is a powerful enough to be viewed as a post-modern colonizer.
So what factors are being played up by what social outlets to generate such a wide-spread negative view?
7:53 am on July 16th, 2008 4
9:49 am on July 16th, 2008 5
Maybe it’s the way Chinese nationals get treated in Korea.
9:51 am on July 16th, 2008 6
Based on internet and personal conversations with Mainland Chinese, I list the following:
1. Real and exaggerated historical and territorial disputes: Goguryeo, Gando, speed skating sign stunt, historical fantasy dramas showing half of China under Korean rule
2. Exaggerated or fictitious cultural “thefts”: Confucius was Chinese, Chinese characters were invented by Koreans, registration of Dano/Duanwu with UNESCO
Koreans are the Polacks of Chinese ethnic/nationality jokes, which mock Korean claims to have invented/discovered/created everything. After hearing and reading Chinese rants, I feel most gripes are without merit, but for whatever reason, Koreans are a favorite target. I think there is also envy at the economic success and political freedoms of a small, former tributary state. Save for South Koreans and Thais, Chinese people enjoy a higher standard of living and greater political and economic freedom than their neighbors.