Anti-Taiwanese sentiment

Anti-Taiwanese sentiment refers to the general dislike or hatred of the Taiwanese people or Taiwanese culture. Anti-Taiwanese sentiment (反臺灣) is often related to but can be distinct from sentiments against Taiwan independence (反臺獨).

People's Republic of China

In the 21st century, anti-Taiwan Jingoism has emerged rapidly in the People's Republic of China, particularly on the Chinese internet.^[1] The Chinese government has at times denied that anti-Taiwanese sentiment is present in mainland China, insisting that residents are only opposed to Taiwanese independence. In 2016, the Taiwan Affairs Office declared that "there is no anti-Taiwan sentiment among the people in mainland China, only anti-Taiwan independence".^[2] However, scholars have pointed to examples of Chinese netizens attacking Taiwanese people and culture to argue that anti-Taiwanese sentiment is a growing trend on the Chinese internet.^[3][4] The China Times published an editorial in 2016 arguing that "anti-China" sentiment had long been present in Taiwan and that "anti-Taiwanese independence" sentiment had long been present in China, but that "anti-Taiwan" sentiment in Chinese civil society was a new and growing phenomenon.^[5] In 2018, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office blamed Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party for "triggering the emotions" of mainland netizens while insisting that anti-Taiwanese sentiment was not representative of China's stance.^[6]

Chinese authorities have also attempted to discourage anti-Taiwan rhetoric. Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, declared in 2021 that mainland netizens should "fight against Taiwanese independence" but not against Taiwan.^[7] During a coordinated campaign in 2016 by Chinese internet users to leave anti-independence messages on the Facebook page of newly elected president Tsai Ing-wen, organizers unsuccessfully insisted that participants should only attack the idea of Taiwanese independence rather than Taiwanese people or culture.^{[4][page needed]}

Relationship with anti-Chinese sentiment

Main articles: Anti-Chinese sentiment and Anti-Han sentiment

Anti-Taiwanese sentiment is sometimes motivated by anti-Chinese sentiment because of the existence of a perception that Taiwanese is ethnically close to Chinese;^[8] during the 2014 Vietnam anti-China protests, anti-Taiwanese sentiment emerged as an extension of anti-Chinese sentiment.^[9] In contrast, politically pro-China attitudes sometimes lead to anti-Taiwan, because China (PRC) regards Taiwan as its territory under the One China principle and does not consider it an independent country, and diplomatically Taiwan is at odds with China.^[10]

Derogatory terms

In Chinese

• Spiritually Japanese (Chinese: 精神日本人) – ethnic slur used by anti-Japanese mainland Chinese to demean Taiwanese who are more friendly to Japan.
• Taibazi (Chinese: 台巴子) – the term used by mainland Chinese or non-Taiwanese individuals to refer to Taiwanese people, meaning "rural bumpkin from Taiwan." Taibazi became a specific term, originating from Shanghai vendors and later widely circulating throughout the Chinese-speaking region.

In Japanese

• Chankoro – derogatory term originating from a corruption of the Taiwanese Hokkien pronunciation of 清國奴 Chheng-kok-lô͘, used to refer to any "Chinaman", with a meaning of "Qing dynasty's slave".^{[note 1]}
• Sangokujin (三国人) – antiquated term meaning "people from third countries", referring to ethnic Korean/Taiwanese (former colonial subjects) people in Japan. Considered by some to now be a slur.

In Korean

• Jjangkkae ^[ko] (Korean: 짱깨) or Seomjjangkkae (Korean: 섬짱깨) – the Korean pronunciation of 掌櫃 (zhǎngguì), literally "shopkeeper", originally referring to owners of Chinese restaurants and stores;^[12] derogatory term referring to Chinese people. Seom (섬) means "island [of Taiwan]."^[13]

See also

• 2022 Laguna Woods shooting
• Chinese imperialism
• Pro-Taiwanese sentiment
• Tzuyu Flag Incident

Notes

1. Chankoro was often used when the Japanese people disparaged the Taiwanese people during the Taiwan under Japanese rule before 1945.^[11] Since today's Japanese people perceive Taiwanese people and mainland Chinese people as individual nations, they rarely refer to them as chankoro when disparaging Taiwanese people.

References

1. "What Does Xi Want from Taiwan? (And What Can Taiwan Do About It?)". ChinaFile. 24 January 2019. Archived from the original on 19 November 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
2. "国台办：大陆民间不存在反台情绪只反台独". Chinese Internet Information Center (in Chinese). 15 June 2016. Archived from the original on 13 June 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
3. Wang, Weixiang (6 November 2024). "Is "Anti-Taiwan Chauvinism" Rising on the PRC's Internet?". Taiwan Insight. University of Nottingham. Archived from the original on 13 November 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
4. Bislev, Ane (2019-01-14), Shei, Chris (ed.), "Don't talk back to your father – online anti-Taiwanese independence nationalist discourse", The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Discourse Analysis (1 ed.), Routledge, pp. 404–414, doi:10.4324/9781315213705-28, ISBN 978-1-315-21370-5
5. "社论－正视大陆民间的反台情绪". China Times. 12 June 2016. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
6. "大陆网友有"仇台"心理? 国台办：对立非大陆网友挑起". People's Daily (in Chinese). 12 December 2018. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
7. Wu, Yihao (17 December 2021). "反台獨不反台灣 北京出手疏導「仇台」輿論的深意 原文網址: 反台獨不反台灣 北京出手疏導「仇台」輿論的深意 香港01". HK01 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
8. "Anti-Han Sentiment as a Risk for the New Southbound Policy". Global Taiwan Institute. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
9. Mariah Thornton; Robert Ash; Dafydd Fell, eds. (2021). Taiwan's Economic and Diplomatic Challenges and Opportunities. Taylor & Francis. p. 102. doi:10.4324/9781003091639. ISBN 978-1-003-09163-9. The anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam: ... From officials to general society, there is not seen to be much difference between Chinese and Taiwanese people. Therefore, anti-Chinese and anti-Taiwanese means essentially the same for Vietnamese workers.
10. Hendrix, Cullen; Noland, Marcus (2014). Confronting The Curse: The Economics and Geopolitics of Natural Resource Governance. Columbia University Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-88132-677-2.
11. 黃英哲 (2015-10-15). "【說書】臺灣作家筆下的「抗戰」". 故事 StoryStudio. Archived from the original on 2025-07-26.
12. 중국, 질문 좀 할게 (in Korean). 좋은땅. April 22, 2016. p. 114. ISBN 979-11-5982-020-5. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
13. ""계엄이 파괴하는 일상은 국적을 구분하지 않는다"···인종차별 철폐 외치는 이들". 경향신문. 16 March 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.