Fenqing, derived from the Chinese language 愤青, is an abbreviation for 愤怒青年, which literally means "angry youth". This term first appeared in Hong Kong in the 1970s, referring to those young people who were not satisfied with Chinese society and sought reform. Nowadays, it has become a special Internet slang term in the Chinese community.

Overview

Fenqing is a special phenomenon after the "reform and opening up" of the Chinese government, during the period of fast economic development that occurred in China. Compared with those who subscribed to the ideals of liberalism during the 1970s in the United States (known as "hippies"), fenqing differ greatly:

• They are usually under the age of 30, mainly male, and are able to access the internet. Most of them are undergraduate students.
• They are usually nationalists and ultra-patriotic. They are very much concerned with political issues, often having strong reactions to issues relating to Japan, Taiwan or the United States. They often harbour negative attitudes towards Japan, and propose to be "tough" towards the Japanese. For example, some believe that the Japanese government has never made an official apology for what was done to the Chinese during World War II. More recent incidents, such as the Prime Minister's annual visit to the Yasukuni Shrine to honor the dead in WWII, the territorial dispute surrounding the Senkaku Islands, or the revisions of Japanese history textbooks by Japanese right-wing nationalist groups which some critics claim "whitewash" the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army, lead these young people to conclude that the Japanese government is again seeking to expand militarily. These anti-Japanese sentiments are often not only directed against the Japanese government and military, but also towards the Japanese economy, people and culture.
• They are also usually of the opinion that Taiwan is a part of China, and that Taiwanese independence should be prevented by any means necessary. The more radical fenqing tend to consider war to be a feasible solution - they may, for example, support the use of nuclear weapons to pressure the Taiwanese government into reunification with mainland China (known as 核平統一 in Chinese).

This article is translated from Chinese Wikipedia 愤青 . You can help translate it.