if you categorically refuse to engage with the opinions of Chinese citizens as anything besides the product of mindless propaganda and brainwashing you are being extremely condescending and also doing a bad job as a journalist

v disappointing to see this so frequently. Yes, the tight control of information and narratives on history, policy and progress in the PRC inevitable influences the lens thru which the party is viewed. No, that does not mean pro-CCP Chinese people are just brainwashed.

also to be frank if I were an old person in Beijing of course I’d prefer Xi to Trump during a pandemic, mainly out of very selfish considerations of wanting to minimize my chances of fucking dying