Protests outside KFC. The banner said, “Boycott Japanese and American products, I am Chinese and will be a model. Kick KFC and McDonald out of China.” Photos from letscorp's Twitter. For years, authorities under President Xi Jinping have stoked nationalistic sentiments in China as part of a larger campaign to push Chinese Communist Party ideology. Part of that effort includes “civilization” volunteers, who are recruited by the Communist Youth League and tasked with spreading the party's message online. “Online” being the key word. It seems protesting in the street is a step too far for the Chinese government, which finds itself at the moment in the odd position of denouncing demonstrations against American fast food chain KFC — fueled by the very brand of aggressive nationalism they helped foment. Since July 16, Chinese people in at least a dozen towns and cities have protested in front of KFC restaurants because they are seen as representing the interests of the United States. Many in China think US meddling helped lead to an embarrassing ruling on July 12, in which an international tribunal shot down Beijing’s extensive claims over the South China Sea. Videos showing protesters confronting KFC customers have also gone viral on social media, where the rallies were organized. The call to protest can be traced back to Zhu Jidong, the deputy director of the National Cultural Security and Ideology Construction Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The center organizes training courses for online commenters and is active in delivering ideological instruction on social media through its official account, @IdeologyTorch (思想火炬). In reaction to the South China Sea ruling, Zhu suggested in a July 13 post on Weibo two days of boycott against American fast food companies: #思想微評#[舉國不去肯德基和麥當勞消費：你能做到嗎？]舉國上下在某一天集中做一種舉動，就會形成大的震憾：倡議這個周六、周日（7月16日和7月17日），舉國不去肯德基和麥當勞消費，只須兩天，世界將為之嘩然。這個倡議，兩天時間，不會傷害任何人，但可以表明中國人的決心和態度！ #Mini Comment on Ideology# National boycott against KFC and McDonald's. Can you do this? The whole nation taking the same action on the same day will create a shock. Proposed for this Saturday and Sunday (July 16 and 17), national boycott against KFC and McDonald's. It takes two days to shake the world. This proposal will only take two days and it won't harm anyone. But it is an action to manifest Chinese determination and attitude. On the same day, Global Times, which is owned by the official newspaper group of the Chinese Communist Party, published commentary saying that the South China Sea ruling spurred a new wave of patriotism. Meanwhile, the Communist Youth League published a Weibo post citing research that says Chinese media outlets are “controlled by capitalists” which has resulted in homogeneous opinion in the public sphere. As the current ideological battle being waged online in China has “patriots” and “red” culture on one side and “US sympathizers” and “liberals” on another, some interpreted the post as suggesting that people take revolutionary action in response to the South China Sea arbitration against capitalistic liberal forces’ attempts to suppress patriotic sentiments and reactions. Around the same time, an adapted version of Zhu Jidong's push for boycott quickly went viral on social media such as messaging app WeChat. Many assumed that these calls to action were coming from the Communist Youth League's online civilization volunteers because Zhu Jidong is a member of the League's think tank. On July 16, as shown in video clips recorded by citizens, some patriotic youths started harassing customers at KFC asking if they had heard of the South China Sea arbitration and telling them to leave. The online call for boycott soon developed into street quarrels, fist fights and then widespread protests. Some of the slogans used in the protests included: 你们吃的美国肯德基，丢的是老祖宗的脸。 将来打仗的话，每一颗炮弹都是你们赞助的。 如果吃了肯德基，将来都是汉奸。 Those who eat in the American KFC is trashing the face of your ancestor. If there is war in the future, you are sponsoring their bullets now. Eating in KFC makes you a Chinese traitor. The real-life protests crossed a line set by the party and the government. On July 16, the Communist Youth League attempted to cut its ties to the demonstrations, claiming that they were initiated by “fans of the US” on Weibo. But the KFC rallies continued and by July 18 had spread to more than a dozen cities. Worries swirled that if the mobilization got out of control, it could threaten the country's economic security. To cool down the patriotic sentiments, propaganda authorities issued censorship instructions to all media outlets (via China Digital Times): Once again, for the near future, do not hype or spread information related to illegal rallies and demonstrations.