Blog - Hurting the feelings of the Chinese people

Abstract

The origins, first use, and logic of that peculiar Chinese foreign policy phrase

"Mr. Ishibashi may also have known that after Mr. Kishi Nobusuke came to office, our concerns have been piling up. Mr. Kishi also verbally promised to do trade with China and establish some relations. But in fact, he did many things that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people…." – Liao Chengzhi, September 12, 1959

Every Chinese foreign policy observer has heard it. Whether uttered by China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, or penned in the pages of the People’s Daily, the phrase “to hurt the feelings of the Chinese people” (伤害了中国人民的感情) has become a common trope in Chinese foreign policy discourse.