Why are China’s nationalists attacking the country’s business figures?

TO GET the economy back on track, China is trying to champion its domestic companies and reassure entrepreneurs that it’s ready for business.

Its efforts are running into a problem: an online army of Chinese nationalists who have taken it upon themselves to punish perceived insults to the country — including from some of China’s leading business figures.

In recent weeks, bloggers who usually rail against the United States have turned on China’s richest man, calling him unpatriotic, and encouraged boycotts that have wiped out billions from his beverage company’s market value. When fellow tycoons defended him, they were attacked as well, by users whose profiles featured photos of the Chinese flag.

As the fervor spread, social media users also hounded Huawei, the crown jewel of China’s tech industry, accusing it of secretly admiring Japan.

Others accused a prestigious university of being too cozy with the United States, and demanded the works of a Nobel-winning Chineseauthorberemovedfrom circulation for purportedly smearing national heroes.

The state has often encouraged such nationalist crusaders, deploying them to drum up support, deflect foreign criticism or distract from crises.

But the encouragement has also pushed many users to try to outdo one another in nationalist outrage — to an extent that can sometimes escape the government’s control or undercut its broader aims. As the recent attacks grew, some state media outlets issued rare rebukes of the nationalist bloggers. Hu Xijin, a former Communist Party newspaper editor who is perhaps the most well-known online nationalist, also condemned the craze. Yet the barrage persisted.

This time, many of the grievances seem to be fueled by a groundswell of discontent over China’s economic malaise, potentially making it harder for authorities to turn the faucet of public anger off.

Some of those calling for boycotts of the drinks company, for instance, suggested it was focused more on profits than on the public good, amid high youth unemployment and disaffection with harsh corporate culture.

Around the world, anti-elite sentiments often go hand-inhand with economic downturns. But China’s tightly controlled internet incentivizes users to blend that sentiment with aggressive nationalism.

With Chinese censors deeming more and more topics offlimits, pro-china sentiment is one of the few reliably “safe” areas remaining.

Nationalist furors often subside as quickly as they arise, and Zhong is still China’s richest person, with a net worth of more than $60 billion.

But the mania against Nongfu made clear how easily nationalists can descend upon targets other than those selected by authorities. Several more campaigns have recently taken aim at other storied institutions and figures, despite official efforts to dissuade them.

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