Exploring the Neglected Constraints on Chindia: Analysing the Online Chinese Perception of India and its Interaction with China's Indian Policy

Abstract

In recent years, the governments of China and India have initiated a strategic partnership. Talks of creating an integrated "Chindia" economic hub have been commonplace. Many studies have been undertaken from conflicting perspectives on bilateral relations at the high level, but how ordinary Chinese people view their contemporary Indian counterparts and how this provides a civic dimension to the partnership remains underexplored. In an authoritarian nation where exhibiting sentiments contrary to the party-state's policy is not encouraged and remains uncommon, the Chinese have increasingly relied upon the internet to express their views on various aspects of policy, including that towards India. Using systematic, qualitative research on the online community, this article categorizes the various opinions expressed by Chinese internet users about India, the Indians and Beijing's Indian policy; analyses the apparent huge gap between these perceptions and the official rhetoric of Beijing; and forecasts how such perceptions might influence future Sino-Indian relations.

Ambivalent accommodation: status signalling of a rising India and China's response

“…35 And Simon Shen's study on Chinese public opinion identified negative views of India among Chinese nationalists. 36 Nevertheless, while these findings shed light on some troubling factors in the Sino-Indian relationship, they should be seen in the appropriate perspective. Malik's study examined the opinions of certain Chinese elites at a particular juncture in the Cold War when India and China had a particularly hostile relationship.…”

Lonely Nights Online: How does Social Networking Channel Chinese Migration and Business to Africa?

“…Akin to trying to drink from a fire hose, the researcher faces an overwhelming barrage of information, opinion and untethered comment. Research so far have tended to focus on certain particular topics (for example, recent work includes the rise of new web-based modes of discourse (Xu, 2012), the impact on young Chinese definition of self (Liu, 2011), the way this kind of media is used to mull over national disasters (Inwood, 2011) and using the Chinese netizen community as a barometer to gauge the wider Chinese public's view of Chinese foreign policy and its perceptions of other countries (Hu & Lei, 2010;Shen, 2011). Other research has focused on certain communities, for example, the way how Chinese students at foreign universities use social networking sites and discussion forums to ease their adaptation to new environments (Lin et al, 2011;Ye, 2006) as well as how internet use reflect the kind of cultural differences that affect adaptation (Wei et Certain corners of the Chinese-language internet provide particularly useful glimpses into this mediating role.…”

China–India Studies: Emergence, Development, and State of the Field

“…The end of the Cold War, the rapid economic growth of China and India since the 1990s, and the growing academic interest in the issue of globalization have catalyzed these comparative studies. Additionally, social and print media have surfaced as alternative forums through which views and opinions about China–India relations have appeared and have become another subject of study (Shen 2011). Similarly, Bollywood cinema in China (Van Fleit Hang 2013), comparative media studies (Jeffrey and Sen 2015), and scientific research connections between the PRC and the ROI (Phalkey and Lam 2016) are new areas of research that continue to diversify the field of China–India studies.…”