Chinese Provincial Authorities Warn Fans Against Using Support for Japan to Criticize National Team

A provincial propaganda department has criticized Chinese football fans for leveraging the success of Japan’s World Cup squad to disparage China’s own national team, warning that such behavior is approaching an unacceptable threshold.

In a social media post published Friday, the “Zhejiang Propaganda” account—affiliated with the Zhejiang provincial publicity department—stated that while appreciating the skill of international teams is acceptable, such support must maintain “boundaries.”

“The current controversy demonstrates that the issue is not an intolerance of liking excellent foreign teams, but rather that fans’ cheers should have limits and must not be used as tools to attack national dignity,” the post asserted.

While the department acknowledged that Japan’s football system possesses merits worth emulating, it emphasized that certain public commentary had devolved beyond tactical appreciation.

The warning follows reports of Chinese fans in Shanghai wearing Japanese national team jerseys and cheering for Japan during their 4-0 victory over Tunisia on June 21. According to the Zhejiang department, these scenes sparked significant domestic debate, with some viewers defending the actions as a matter of personal freedom, while others viewed them as an affront to national pride.

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