Scope and Impact of Antisemitism: No Complete Picture

Apart from case studies and the anecdotal evidence so far presented, a reliable, comprehensive assessment of the scope of antisemitism among China’s more than 1.4 million citizens, across 23 provinces and 5 autonomous regions, is currently not possible. Comparing the scope and domestic impact of Chinese to Western or Muslim antisemitism is hazardous. Some Chinese observers assert that Israeli and Jewish issues are barely ever touched in family and social gatherings. When they are mentioned, old stereotypes about Jews being rich, intelligent and successful are allegedly still alive, in spite of the Gaza war. It is sure that China’s Muslim minorities, probably less than 5% of the total population, have no real political or intellectual influence on China’s Han majority, in contrast to the situation in the West. It is equally credible that the Chinese generally exert no pressure on their government to act in one way or another towards Jews or Israel, whatever sentiments they may express on Middle East issues. Gaza is too remote from their true daily preoccupations. This is a big difference from the West, where public opinion is driving governments to turn against Israel. China’s antisemitism cannot be compared to that of the two main Jew-hating powers of the recent past, Germany under the Nazis and the USSR under Stalin. But China could move in that direction if current trends are allowed to continue and intensify.

Various metrics could be employed to assess antisemitism in China.

National Opinion Polls: In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) carried out nationwide opinion polls in many countries, including China, and published a Global antisemitism index. The current (2024) ADL website reports that 660.5 million Chinese people “harbor elevated levels of antisemitic attitudes,” which is 47% of China’s population, or three times more than the number of Chinese antisemites identified in another 2014 study (200 million).³⁵ The ADL also calculated that 46% of adults worldwide “have significant antisemitic beliefs,” or twice as many as in 2014. This suggests that antisemitism was rising faster in China than in the rest of the world. The definitions, measurements and comparisons for China need critical review, with which the ADL is said to have agreed. Critics argued that the survey lacks cross-cultural validity. For example, a third of Chinese respondents replied that “Jews have too much power in the business world,” but mentions of business power are often viewed positively and not negatively in China and East Asia.³⁶ Jews and Israelis visiting or living in China do not notice that almost every second Chinese person shows “elevated levels” of antisemitism. By contrast, those visiting or living in Western countries do notice the rise of antisemitism. The ADL statistics suggest at least that China’s media wave against Jews and Israel did influence popular opinion.

Large-Scale Public Events: In the West and the Muslim world, massive public demonstrations against Israel and “Zionists,” meaning Jews are an easily visible and measurable expression of antisemitism. As China does not allow independent public demonstrations, this measure is not applicable. Another visible public demonstration of Jew-hatred is the frequent vandalism of public synagogues, memorials, cemeteries and other Jewish places in most countries where there are Jews. In China, there are no visible still-functioning public synagogues as in the West, but there are Jewish museums, cemeteries, Chabad houses and the buildings of Israel’s diplomatic missions. No act of vandalism has been reported against any of them so far (Summer 2025).

Social Media: It was said that China’s social media through the internet are the most efficient “producers” and conveyors of antisemitism, as in other countries. These media can also be regarded as “consumers” or reflections of ambient antisemitism. 1.11 billion Chinese individuals used the internet at the start of 2025, or 78% of a total population of ca. 1.42 billion, which means most if not nearly all Chinese adults.³⁷ Assessing whether and how these 1.11 billion people are using words like Jew, Judaism, Israel, Zionism, antisemitism would yield better insights into the Chinese public’s views than any other method, except for improved opinion polls. Accessing Chinese websites from outside of China for evaluation purposes is difficult and identifying content related to Jews from billions of entries would be possible but expensive. This has not been done so far.

Foreign Impacts: Little assessed are the foreign impacts of Chinese antisemitism. The Israeli expert Tuvia Gering notes: “When a state representing one-fifth of humanity, armed with the world’s most sophisticated propaganda machine, vilifies Jews, it jeopardizes the very lives of Jewish people everywhere.”³⁸ Does China’s voice now add to the antisemitism rampant in the “Global South,” particularly in numerous Muslim countries? China’s growing global role means that its attitude to Jews and Israel will likely have a wider impact on important parts of the world than say, the current antisemitism in any European country. Even clearer is the impact in the United States, Israel’s main, indispensable ally. There, 170 million, mostly young people, are regular TikTok followers. According to Israeli warnings, TikTok’s leadership often pursued policies hostile to Israel and Jews.³⁹ This is credited with playing a significant role in influencing young Americans against Israel and Jews. In addition, China-linked networks are funding anti-Israeli protest groups in the United States.⁴⁰ The Chinese Communist Party is interfacing with pro-Palestinian activism in the United States to promote China as a universal “defender of justice,” in contrast to America.⁴¹ Japan is another country where a Chinese source, an officially accredited diplomat to the country, encouraged antisemitism. In June 2025, China’s Consul General in Osaka, Japan, published a graph on X comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. Earlier, he had compared Jews to the war criminals of Japan’s imperial army.⁴² Following Israel’s protest, the graph was deleted. Jew-hatred is normalizing internationally, in this specific case with China’s help, and including in countries which had until recently no interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Last but not least, the large Chinese diaspora, both in the West and Asia, is aware not only of China’s influential hostility to Israel but also of Western solidarity with the Palestinians, which some diaspora Chinese share.⁴³