And, blaming the US means targeting American institutions, which, in China, means KFC.
On Monday, protests broke out at KFC locations in about a dozen cities across China, with calls for boycott, reports the New York Times.
“Boycott the US, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. Love the Chinese people,” a banner outside a KFC in Hebei read. “What you eat is KFC. What is lost is the face of our ancestors.”
Nationalists protesting outside a #KFC in Yangzhou, #China. Notice the iPhone in photo 3? (Photos via @guolu7053) pic.twitter.com/TB78jsL41M
— Thomas·王 (@iChinadian) July 19, 2016
在肯德基抗议 pic.twitter.com/hGYxYrozE2
— LuGuo (@guolu7053) July 19, 2016
网友拍摄的现场照片显示，多家肯德基店面门前聚集着大量“爱国人士”，他们或手举小国旗呐喊，或打出写有“肯德基、麦当劳滚出中国”的大横幅。还有微博用户称，江苏扬州江都一家肯德基“被逼着关门唱国歌”。 pic.twitter.com/I7zRljVARw
— 墙外楼 (@letscorp) July 19, 2016
While Chinese customers see KFC as an American icon, for parent company Yum, China is a key part of business — a larger proportion, in fact, than the US market. There are 4,889 KFC locations in China, compared to 4,338 in the US. In the last quarter, KFC China sales increased 3%, a higher-than-expected boost.
In addition to protesting KFC, people in China are demonstrating their discontent by destroying another American icon: the iPhone. According to Mashable, videos have emerged of people smashing their iPhones to protest perceived American political meddling.
This article was originally published on Business Insider. Copyright 2016.
