Greta Thunberg, once unpopular on Chinese social media, rises in esteem on Gaza

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish environmental activist once widely criticised on Chinese social media, appears to be receiving a rare wave of support in the country, particularly after her bid to call attention to the Israel-Hamas conflict was stopped by Israeli forces who ended her attempt to sail to Gaza.

The 22-year-old activist, along with 11 others, set sail this month for Gaza hoping to “break Israel’s siege” of the Palestinian territory in a show of solidarity. The boat, carrying aid, was soon intercepted by Israeli forces and taken to Israel, where she was deported back to Europe.

Thunberg’s journey – from departure to deportation – was closely followed on Chinese social media, marking a shift in public sentiment compared with reactions to her earlier activism, which earned her the online reference “the environmental girl”.

“In the past, I used to dismiss the environmentalist girl’s words and actions on environmental issues as jokes, but since the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, she has consistently and firmly supported Palestine and opposed Israel,” an online commenter posted on Weibo – China’s version of Twitter – shortly after Thunberg’s attempted sail to Gaza.

“In this regard, she truly practices what she preaches. She even risked her life to go to Gaza. Respect. I hope she stays safe,” the commenter added.

“Everything and everyone has two sides. Although we oppose this ‘young girl’ on many issues, we support what she is doing now on the Gaza issue,” another user posted on Weibo.

Weibo’s official artificial intelligence-powered sentiment tracker confirmed the shift in attitude, saying that Thunberg had “gained recognition and approval” during her Gaza voyage.

“Chinese online commentary has shifted from labelling her as a ‘naive white leftist’ to viewing her as a ‘practitioner who united knowledge and action,’ acknowledging that she is genuinely putting humanitarian ideals into practice,” Weibo noted.

A similar shift in public sentiment was also evident on other popular Chinese social media platforms, such as Douyin and Bilibili, China’s equivalents of TikTok and YouTube.

Thunberg’s previous activities that had drawn widespread disapproval in China related especially to her criticism about the country’s environmental policies – and its human rights issues.

In 2019, Beijing Daily, a state-owned newspaper, published an opinion piece calling Thunberg “a tool of Western politics”.

In 2021, an editor at China Daily, another state-owned newspaper, publicly criticised Thunberg.

“Maybe it’s time to focus just on climate. That itself is a big enough topic for you and going to college would certainly help,” Chen Weihua, China Daily’s bureau chief, posted on X, then called Twitter. “For the moment, please stay out of the subjects you have very little or no knowledge at all.”

For Chinese social media watchers, the shift was less a reflection about Thunberg as it was of growing public sympathy toward Palestinians - and rising anti-Israel sentiment fuelled by China’s deepening rivalry with the US-led West.

Rose Luqiu, an associate professor at Hong Kong Baptist University’s School of Communication, invoked the saying: ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“This adage aptly describes the attitude of certain Chinese netizens towards Greta Thunberg, which is influenced more by their political stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict than by her climate activism,” Luqui said.

“Their reaction is primarily shaped by their alignment with Beijing’s official stance on the Gaza conflict, which supports Palestine,” she added.

Yan Zhihua, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences public opinion laboratory and a visiting scholar from Nanjing University, agreed, saying that the “temporary goodwill” was not related to Thunberg, but increasing Chinese disdain for the US.

“It is simply because anti-American sentiment has been on the rise among Chinese netizens in recent years, leading to a significant decline in their evaluation of Israel,” said Yan, who is also a researcher at Zijin Media, a think tank supported by the Jiangsu Provincial Communist Party Committee.

Chinese public sentiment toward Israel has taken a sharp downturn since the start of the Gaza war, on October 7, 2023.

For instance, the official Weibo account of the Israeli Embassy in China is often flooded with anti-Israel comments. After an embassy post last month paid tribute to two Israeli embassy staff killed in a shooting in Washington, the leading comments were overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian, though some also condemned the murders.

This shift in tone closely follows Beijing’s diplomatic stance.

While China maintains communication with both Israel and Arab nations, Beijing has repeatedly condemned Israel’s actions in the Middle East since the Gaza conflict began.

During the recent attacks between Israel and Iran, Fu Cong, China’s ambassador to the United Nations, called on Israel to halt its strikes and condemned its violation of “Iran’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity”.

China’s state-owned media have remained largely silent on Thunberg’s pro-Palestinian actions, in contrast to previous coverage of her environmental activism.

Yan said that the reluctance reflected the exceptionally high sensitivity of the Palestinian issue: “State media remain silent or adopt a wait-and-see attitude on sensitive issues. The Middle East holds an absolutely critical position in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the US-China competition.”

Luqiu noted that the Chinese sentiments shown online might only be part of the entire picture.

“It is essential to note that this polarisation is further complicated by censorship, which makes it challenging to gauge public opinion accurately. It remains unclear to what extent dissenting voices—those not aligned with Beijing’s stance—are being silenced,” she said.

“As a result, the visible reactions may not fully represent the true spectrum of opinions among Chinese netizens.”