How Do Chinese Protest South China Sea Ruling? Boycott Filipino Mangoes, Smash iPhones

China is not happy about the international tribunal ruling on the South China Sea territorial disputes at the Hague on July 12 — that is, because the powerful nation overwhelmingly lost.

Chinese citizens took it upon themselves to express their anger in, well, a nonconventional way. No, they didn’t riot down the streets, they didn’t raise signs or posters, and they didn’t create controversial “expressive” art displays.

To show their outrage over the ruling, Chinese citizens smashed iPhones. I reiterate: they are deliberately crushing and destroying hundreds of dollars of smart technology. Most people — myself included — walk around fearing dropping our precious phones. And Chinese people are doing just that on purpose!

So, to show their resentment toward countries that support the tribunal’s decision, people in China have decided to boycott products — mainly American and Filipino products. Profits from those sales could go to “enemy” armies, citizens wrote on social media.

“Let’s all start boycotting today. Do not buy goods from South Korea, Japan, America and the Philippines. Do not travel there. I cannot fight on the front lines, but I will not be the foolish citizen who provides bullets for the enemy,” reads one popular post on social media site Weibo.

Some dubious citizens, in trying to call out those outspoken netizens, challenged them to show their determination by smashing their iPhones. Challenge accepted. Photos of shattered phones popped up on the internet.

Some, however, did not take the bait. This group said they had already paid for the phones, so there was no point in crashing them. They promised, however, that they will not purchase the iPhone 7 when it comes out.

On the Filipino front, many Chinese are boycotting the buying of mangoes coming from the island nation. Several Taobao shops began advertising that their produce comes from Thailand or China instead of from the Philippines. And for the shops that used to carry Filipino mangoes? Well, they put up signs telling customers to boycott the product. One very zealous owner even went as far to write the family of anyone who buys the mangoes would die.

No Filipino mangoes. Destroy iPhones. Yeah, that’ll show ‘em.