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One thing I think many politicians and "experts" have not yet fully realized is that the West's recent tough stance against China is pushing away a generation of young Chinese people who'd otherwise be their allies (to a certain extend). https://twitter.com/LiYuan6/status/1290133108335894528
Some of my high school schoolmates are an interesting subgroup to study as an example. Why? Their profile: all got their undergraduate or graduate degrees in a top US or Western European university, all use Eng (if not another foreign language as well) as working language,
all watch more US or UK TV shows than Ch ones, all actively seek news in Eng, all pretty critical abt BJ policies most of the time and not shy away from discussions of sensitive topics, none is CCP member,
all can be counted as liberal upper middle class no matter which country or city they live in. They are a group that IMO is most likely to endorse Western values of freedom, rule of law, human rights, etc.
In the past few months, I can literally chart their rapid progression into a more pro-Beijing mode. They are a small, atypical yet telling example. Now imagine the vast majority of Ch people who don't have a western education, never lived overseas & only reads news in Ch.
There has been a lot calls for distinguishing CCP from the Chinese people. Yes, but the thing is: not only did the west get CCP wrong, they also got Chinese people wrong. Engagement may have failed in terms of dealing with CCP, but it surely won many Chinese people.
