Is a nation of 1.3 billion really so sensitive? Why must it resort to such petulance? For more on the psychology and decades-old history of the phrase “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people” (伤害了中国人民的感情) click here.

Research for this timeline was conducted by CMP researcher Xiao Han.

David is the co-director of the China Media Project, a research and fellowship program with the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. A frequent commentator on Chinese media, his writings have appeared in Far Eastern Economic Review, the Wall Street Journal, Index on Censorship, the SCMP and others.