Abstract

Chinese social networks provide vast information, which have not been enough studied. Chinese citizens can and do express themselves relatively freely in such networks and openly criticize the authorities. In this regard, the opinions of Chinese people in social media are quite representative and reflect a wide range of views on various issues. This article examines Chinese attitudes towards African migrants in Chinese social networks. This issue is covered in part in the foreign and national literature and requires a more thorough study. The author has carried out a considerable amount of work to find publications related to this topic. Keyword searches as well as external links were used as a methodological tool. The author concludes that the vast majority of Chinese posts and comments on African migrants are extremely negative, sometimes hostile toward them, and the few exceptions only confirm this rule. They are almost always blamed for uncivilized manners, lack of respect for Chinese traditions, mistreatment of women, increased propensity to commit crimes, and for the fact that the government spends unjustifiably large amounts of money on them. There are fears that China may lose its cultural and national identity because of migrants. The author, alien both to the racist thoughts of individual Chinese bloggers and indiscriminately accusing Chinese society as a whole of racism, avoids bias or prejudice. The article merely states the fact that the overwhelming majority of Chinese social media postings on African migrants are negative, although there are a steady number of examples of opposing views and assessments.