Mapping the hurt feelings of the Chinese people

China’s blogs and online forums have reacted in different ways to the official indignation over French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s meeting with the Dаlаi Lаmа.

Boycotts, which played a large role in the anti-French sentiment during the Olympic torch relay earlier this year, were the subject of heated discussion (see Global Voices Online for more details).

But other netizens were inspired by the words of the deputy foreign minister; “The meeting grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs, severely undermined China’s core interests, gravely hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and damaged the political basis of China-France and China-EU relations.”

How many times have the Chinese people’s feelings been hurt, anyway? Blogger FangKC searched through the electronic archives of the People’s Daily between 1946 and 2006 and discovered that 19 countries and organizations have been accused of hurting the feelings of the Chinese people:

1. Japan: 47 times, starting in 1985
2. USA: 23 times, starting in 1980, when Los Angeles flew the ROC flag
3. NATO: 10 times, mostly relating to the 1999 Belgrade embassy bombing
4. India: 7 times, starting in 1986 and mostly relating to border issues
5. France: 5 times, starting in 1989
6. Nobel Committee: 4 times
7. Germany: 3 times, starting with a meeting with the Dаlаi Lаmа in 1990
8. Vatican City: 3 times, starting in 2000
9. EU: 2 times, starting in 1996
10. Guatemala: 2 times, both in 1997
11. Indonesia: in 1959, when a newspaper inflamed anti-Chinese sentiment
12. Albania: in 1978, for criticism of Chairman Mao and the Chinese Communist Party
13. Vietnam: in 1979, for a high official’s slander of China
14. UK: in 1994, over the Taiwan issue
15. The Netherlands: in 1980, over the government authorizing a company to provide submarines to Taiwan
16. Iceland: in 1997, for allowing Lien Chan to visit
17. Jordan: in 1998, for allowing Lien Chan to visit
18. Nicaragua: in 1995, for supporting Taiwan’s bid to join the UN
19. South Africa: in 1996, for proposing a two-China policy

Feeling that FangKC had undercounted, blogger Arctosia at Bear’s Blog created this map of countries that “have been clearly fingered by state media or representatives of the Chinese government of hurting the feelings of the Chinese people.”

Countries that have hurt the feelings of the Chinese people in black (Arctosia)

The blogger, who also keeps an English-language blog about life in New Zealand, listed 42 countries by region and provided citations (we’ve just reproduce the list of names):

• Europe (12): Vatican City, UK, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, The Czech Republic, Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia, Albania
• North America (2): USA, Canada
• Central America (6): Guatemala, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Honduras, Nicaragua
• South America (1): Chile
• Oceania (4): New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Marshall Islands
• Africa (9): Chad, Malawi, Burkina Faso, Swaziland, São Tomé and Príncipe, Gambia, Liberia, Senegal, South Africa
• Asia (8): Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, India, Jordan, (disputed: Cambodia, Laos)

Update (2008.12.16): The creator of the above map has started an English-language discussion on Fool’s Mountain which poses a few questions about the list of countries:

* Did those countries really hurt their feelings?

* Why more than 1/5 of the world are such “culprits”?

* Is there any country that had genuinely hurt their feelings not on the map?

* Or is there something wrong with that kind of diplomatic expression?