Little Pink () is a term used to describe young

Chinese nationalists The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the sole ruling party of the country during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until its relocation to Taiwan, and in Taiwan ruled under ...

on the internet. Some Western critics have described Little Pink as "

ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...

". The Little Pink are different from members of the 50 Cent Party or Internet Water Army, as the Little Pink are not known to be paid for their work. In terms of demographics, according to Zhuang Pinghui of ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

'', 83% of the Little Pink are female, with most of them between 18 and 24 years old. More than half of the Little Pink are from third- and fourth-tier cities in China. They are primarily active on social media sites banned in China such as Twitter and

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

History

The term Little Pink originated on the website (), when a group of users kept strongly criticizing people who published posts containing negative news about China. Within Jinjiang Literature City, this group became known as the "Jinjiang Girl Group Concerned for the Country", or the Little Pink, which was the main color of the website's front page. They have been compared to the

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. In the first days of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the Little Pink expressed pro-Russia sentiments on the Chinese internet.

Responses

The

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

's official newspaper ''

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' ( zh, s=人民日报, p=Rénmín Rìbào) is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP in multiple lan ...

'' and its daily tabloid ''

Global Times The ''Global Times'' is a daily Chinese Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the ''People's Daily'', commenting on international issues from a Chinese nationalistic pers ...

'' have both lavished praise on the Little Pink, as has the

Communist Youth League of China The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC; also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League or CYL) is a people's organization of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, r ...

. In October 2021, the Little Pink were the subject of criticism by the satirical song " Fragile" by Malaysian singer Namewee and Australian singer

Kimberley Chen Kimberley Chen Fang-yu (born 23 May 1994) is an Australian singer, actress and model based in Taiwan. In 2009, she landed her first hit with the love ballad "愛你" (Aini, "Love You"). In 2012, she became a professional singer in Taiwan, sin ...

. A commentary in the ''

'' opined that in response to the song, the Little Pink should have reflected on the dangers of their fervent

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

, instead of "pouring out vitriol at the rapper, song and supporters". The commentary compared their path and its dangers to the one taken by supporters of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in the

January 6 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...

References

{{Internet slang Internet trolling Political pejoratives for people Internet-based activism Chinese Internet slang Chinese ultranationalism 2020 neologisms Propaganda in China

History

Responses

See also

References