Captivated but threatened by ethnosexuality

Decoding online hate speech on interracial marriage in China

Bibliographic Data

ID21790202
AuthorsHao Jiang (0000-0001-9853-3398, Tsinghua University), Wodong Guo (0009-0000-6859-4982, Sun Yat-sen University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume19
Issue2
Pages173-192
Publication date2026-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueChinese Journal of Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1754-4769 • E-ISSN: 1754-4750
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17544750.2025.2570719
OpenAlexW4415224940
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited63

Although China is globalizing, foreigners remain racialized and sexualized others. Using theoretical concepts from hate speech, ethnosexuality, and intergroup threat, this study employs a mixed-methods approach to examine online discussions regarding interracial marriage on four popular Chinese social media platforms that attract users with distinct backgrounds and perspectives, namely, Douyin, Tieba, Hupu, and Xiaohongshu. Our findings reveal that the dialectics surrounding the (un)desirability of ethnosexuality stimulate Chinese netizens’ perceptions of intergroup threat, particularly as gender-specific communities’ emphasis on symbolic threats fosters hate speech. These polarized and toxic discourses, in turn, undermine the internal cohesion of exclusionism within the romantic revolution underway as China globalizes: Black people are associated with an essentialist ethnosexual hierarchy that downgrades their value, while white people have high sexual capital. Ultimately, Chinese social media should be understood as ethnosexual frontiers that negotiate between cultural confidence and exoticization

China · Decoding methods · Threatened species · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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