Over the weekend, in the run-up to Monday’s broadcast of the BBC documentary, some of the staff at the network were bracing for what they expected would be a forceful response from China’s online supporters — both Chinese and foreign.
They had good reason to be concerned, given that the BBC is widely despised within China for its coverage of Xinjiang, Hong Kong, COVID, and countless other issues. Secondly, ever since the spasm of anti-Black racism in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in April 2020, when dozens of Black residents were evicted from their homes and hotels, China’s online supporters went on the offensive to denounce anyone who criticized China’s handling of the issue.
