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| Xia Xinyu Sparks Outrage Over ‘Thanking’ British Museum for Chinese Artefacts — Fans Demand Apology |
18th-tier Mainland Chinese actress Xia Xinyu has officially landed herself in the hottest pot of online soup after her eyebrow-raising posts about the British Museum lit up Chinese social media like fireworks on National Day — and not in a good way.
The 38-year-old, not exactly a household name despite being in the industry for years, found herself under heavy fire after posting what netizens branded as "cringeworthy Western bootlicking" during her recent trip to the UK.
While taking in the sights at the British Museum, Xia penned a now-viral post saying, “Not a single Chinese person can leave the British Museum with a smile.”
Bold words — but she didn’t stop there.
She went on to thank the museum for “preserving” Chinese artefacts, claiming that if those items had remained in China, “they would have been destroyed long ago.”
That line alone was enough to send Chinese netizens into full meltdown mode.
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“They Saved Our Stuff?”
In Xia’s full post, she argued that the UK had done a better job than China at protecting cultural relics.
“Thanks to the British Museum, I and future generations can still see these treasures,” she wrote.
The implication?
That colonial looting somehow did China a favour — a view many labelled as historically tone-deaf and deeply offensive.
Cue the backlash: critics quickly accused her of justifying imperialism and belittling her own country's cultural legacy.
Within hours, #XiaXinyuInsultsChineseCulture began trending across Weibo, and shortly after, her Weibo account was officially restricted by authorities.
History Class Dropout Vibes?
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Back home, people weren’t having it.
Netizens and commentators alike tore into her logic, with one viral post sarcastically summarising her argument as: “Thanks to the thief for stealing my family heirloom — otherwise I might've broken it myself.”
Others dug up examples of so-called “well-preserved” Chinese artefacts in the British Museum, many of which have been partially destroyed, poorly stored, or even stolen again in recent years.
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One netizen posted: “These aren’t museum pieces — they’re colonial trophies. You don’t thank the thief just because he didn’t torch the loot.”
A brief scroll through Xia’s Xiaohongshu account didn’t help her case either.
Past posts praised various aspects of Western culture, with comments like: “Without Western civilisation, I’d still be binding my feet and kneeling,” and “We must learn from the West to move forward.”
To many, it read less like healthy admiration and more like a rejection of her own cultural roots.
The discourse quickly shifted from outrage to full-on boycott mode, with several fans burning merch she had endorsed.
From Museum Talk to Verbal Brawls
Rather than issue an apology, Xia appeared to double down, reportedly calling critics “roast ducks waiting to be chopped” — a bizarre and frankly baffling insult that only made the storm worse.
Some say she’s digging her own PR grave.
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What’s more worrying to some observers is not just her personal opinion, but the growing trend of celebrities romanticising Western systems while glossing over complex histories of colonialism, looting, and cultural suppression.
As one widely shared comment put it:
“Criticise our past, sure. But don’t turn around and sing hymns for the ones who pillaged us.”
Whether you view Xia Xinyu as misunderstood, misguided or just flat-out misinformed, one thing’s clear — she’s crossed a red line in public perception.
In a climate where cultural pride is tightly woven with national identity, romanticising the British Museum as some sort of accidental cultural saviour was never going to fly.
As the drama keeps brewing, more of Xia Xinyu’s shady past is getting dug up.
This so-called “independent woman” actress has hit the headlines before for all the wrong reasons — like when she openly praised scandal-hit Zhou Libo as a “genuinely good bloke.”
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She’s been banging on about being a “role model for female independence” at 38 and still single, but turns out she’s been caught meddling in other people’s marriages more than once.
And if that wasn’t enough, some folks dug up her old interviews where she dropped some shockers like: “Patriotism is an outdated feeling” and “Traditional culture holds women back.”
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Her account’s been banned, and her endorsements are probably toast.
The latest is Xia Xinyu’s social media got shut down by the platform. As for her other brand deals? They’re looking pretty shaky too.
In the entertainment world, Xia’s rapid fall from grace didn’t come as a shock.
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What’s interesting is, despite all the backlash, a small bunch are still sticking up for her, saying her words were rough but made sense.
From Zhai Tianlin’s “never heard of CNKI” fiasco to Kris Wu’s legal mess, and now Xia Xinyu’s disrespectful comments about China, the toxic “any publicity is good publicity” vibe in showbiz has shown itself to be a dead end time and again.
One sharp critic nailed it: “The biggest tragedy for people like Xia Xinyu isn’t just getting cancelled — it’s thinking sneaky shortcuts are clever and shouting for attention is talent, only to end up trapped in their own delusions with no way out.”
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When a celeb treats challenging social values as “being unique” and trampling on national feelings as “being brave,” their career’s basically done for.
On big issues of national dignity, Chinese people don’t mess about — history’s not for mocking, and boundaries aren’t for pushing.
Like a lot of netizens said: “You don’t have to be a hero, but you definitely can’t be a traitor; you don’t have to be patriotic, but you absolutely can’t insult China.”
Her comments have sparked a deeper conversation around how we talk about history, heritage, and the role of the West in preserving (or plundering) it. For now, though, Xia’s digital megaphone is on mute — and the damage may already be done.