Promotion of consumerism

Recent literature suggests that the Chinese government welcomes the anger that Chinese bloggers have displayed at Western media criticism of censorship in. The government indirectly or otherwise supports consumerism as a legitimate form of freedom for its people in return for loyalty to the state. Chinese Generation Y, in particular, has learned to appreciate the greater social freedom that shopping and communicating on the Internet offers it, compared with that available to earlier generations. This freedom alone has ensured the loyalty of this generation to the Chinese state so far.

The dislike of Western ideology has been a consistent theme in displays of Chinese nationalism and loyalty since 1989 (Gries 2004; Zheng 1999), but the anger Chinese bloggers have demonstrated towards the Western media more recently indicates a new attitude, a willingness to consume products of Western culture yet resentment of Western political ideology. While increasing numbers of Chinese consume Western products such as Starbucks' coffee, wear Adidas shoes, earn Western degrees and, even, become permanent residents of Western countries, love for motherland China is also growing stronger.

Loving one's motherland is not only a Chinese phenomenon. But among the Chinese, love for the motherland is mainly an expression of support for the central government, and it persists despite widely-exposed corruption at local government level. How has this support for the national government come about?