Dissertation

Rethinking digital nationalism in China: state propaganda and public discourse during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

On Wednesday 25 June 2025 Dechun Zhang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Author: D. Zhang
Date: 25 June 2025
Links: Leiden Repository

This dissertation investigates the evolving dynamics of Chinese nationalism in the digital era, with a particular focus on the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for both top-down propaganda and bottom-up online engagement. It situates digital nationalism within the historical trajectory of Chinese state nationalism, tracing its development from the Mao and Deng eras through to its current manifestations on social media platforms. Through a multi-method approach combining computational text analysis and qualitative content analysis of Weibo posts, this study examines how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deployed nationalist narratives during the pandemic and how internet users engaged with, amplified, or contested these narratives. Analytical chapters explore state-led propaganda on People’s Daily Weibo, the emotional dimensions of nationalist discourse, the articulation of vaccine nationalism, and the emergence of digital populist nationalism during the Red Cross scandal. Findings reveal a nuanced digital ecosystem in which nationalism is strategically mobilized by the state for legitimacy and crisis management, while also providing a vehicle for public expression, critique, and identification. Rather than a monolithic force, Chinese nationalism online is shown to be a multifaceted phenomenon shaped by both state control and popular sentiment. This study contributes to scholarship on political communication, nationalism, and digital authoritarianism by offering a comprehensive account of how digital platforms mediate the interaction between propaganda and popular participation in contemporary China

Supervisor: Prof.dr. F.A. Schneider
Co-supervisor: Dr. Y. Huang