Socialising Chinese nationalism: Education and media

Abstract This study discusses the socialisation experiences of young Chinese from two different education backgrounds and media environment. Through a survey on the attitudes of students from Macau and mainland China towards nationalism‐related news events using a survey, this study has revealed that their education social background and media‐use patterns have a greater impact on students' attitudes towards political events (military parade and Occupy Central) than cultural events (Tu Youyou's Nobel Prize and championship of women's volleyball team), and the differences of their attitudes vary depending on the events in question. Moreover, mainland students are more nationalistic and supportive of the official mainland media's discourse on sovereignty issues, but more sceptical of its sources on events of conflicts between Chinese ethnicities. The findings of this study have revealed how wider media exposure impacts the attitudes of individuals; additionally, it responds to the debates on whether people are more inclined to recognise their existing common identities or influenced by the political regimes constructed by the elites; most importantly, it tests the socialising experiences of nationalism among young Chinese from different educational and media backgrounds.