Barbs and jibes by Chinese netizens over PM Wong’s remarks on Japan-China spat

Many videos, articles erroneously interpret his comments as S'pore taking Japan’s side

- Lim Min Zhang China Correspondent Magdalene Fung Hong Kong Correspondent

It started in Hong Kong, and then others in mainland China began jumping on the bandwagon.

Over the past week, barbs and jibes in the Chinese online space clustered over Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's recent remarks on a China-Japan dispute over Taiwan, which laid out the Republic’s longstanding position on developments in East Asia.

Anti-Singapore sentiment sparked by the island-state’s foreign policy stance is not new. Previous episodes range from a major online influence and disinformation campaign over the Terrex incident in 2016, a major diplomatic incident between Singapore and China when Hong Kong Customs seized Singapore’s military vehicles, to a more recent kerfuffle over Singapore’s identification of a cyber espionage group that has been linked to China.

But the current maelstrom is notable for the mix of voices seeking to give their own negative spin on PM Wong’s words, ranging from a Hong Kong news portal with a track record of echoing pro-Beijing and nationalistic sentiments, to commercially driven Chinese content creators who rely on online traffic for revenue.

The hostilities tap into chauvinistic sentiments in China that are now surging high, fuelled by propaganda reports that target Japan.

The testy environment in East Asia emerged in the wake of Nov 7 comments by Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, which Beijing took umbrage at. She said in Parliament that Chinese military action over Taiwan could constitute a situation that threatens Japan’s survival.

Beijing denounced this as interference in its “internal affairs”, responding with a firestorm of travel advisories, trade embargoes and military posturing.