In authoritarian countries, who reads about foreign criticism of their government? How does this criticism affect views about government performance and the political system? Recent studies have examined whether members of the public show compliance or backlash in response to shaming. However, none have examined who chooses to read about news of foreign shaming, and whether the effects on those who seek it out are different from those who come across it incidentally. In this study, we carry out a modified participant preference trial in China, a country where international criticism of the government’s reaction to the Coronavirus outbreak has been widely reported in local media. The study examines respondents’ preferences over reading about foreign criticism, and then randomly allocates a real-life news story with US diplomatic shaming of the Chinese government’s initial response to COVID-19. We expect that foreign shaming will serve to polarise public attitudes. Chinese citizens who actively seek out foreign criticism will see a backlash, rating their political system and government response to the outbreak more positively. Those who do not seek out criticism will be more likely to use it to update their views in a more negative direction.