Chinese Cyber Nationalists Target Nobel Laureate, Water Company

FILE - Literature Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan attends a book fair in Beijing on Aug. 23, 2017. Mo, one of China's most celebrated authors, has been sued and accused of violating the Heroes and Martyrs Protection Law. FILE - A worker transfers packages of Nongfu Spring mineral water at a factory in Danjiangkou, China, on May 11, 2023. Nongfu Spring has become a target of nationalist attacks on Chinese social media.

Online nationalism has been surging in China in recent weeks, with a growing band of cyber nationalists targeting the country’s first Nobel laureate in literature, Mo Yan, and the largest bottled water producer, Nongfu Spring.