Chinese state media condemns protests at KFC restaurants in wake of South China Sea ruling
Demonstrations interfere with legitimate businesses and humiliate customers, say newspapers, amid apparent fears that anti-US protests might escalate
In an apparent attempt to head off large-scale street demonstrations, Chinese state newspapers have criticised scattered protests against KFC restaurants and other US targets sparked by an international tribunal’s ruling that denied Beijing’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea.
The commentaries on Tuesday and Wednesday reflect the ruling Communist Party’s strict demands for social order. Previous protest movements against long-time rival Japan and others have sometimes spun out of control, leading to violence against foreign businesses and attacks on their Chinese customers.
Protesters have gathered in recent days outside KFC restaurants in several cities, unfurling banners and calling for a boycott of the US chain. Reports on social media say customers have been accused of being unpatriotic and “losing face for their ancestors”.
Such actions interfered with legitimate business and humiliated customers, the official China Daily said on Wednesday, echoing an editorial the previous day in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s flagship newspaper.
“Instead of being patriotic, it is their jingoism that does a disservice to the spirit of devotion to the nation,” the China Daily said. “Those who organise such activities without going through the necessary procedures and unlawfully harass others in the name of patriotism should be held accountable according to the law.”
China’s authoritarian government generally forbids most forms of protest, but is also wary of being accused of stifling patriotism.
