Y’all: it’s 100% possible to embrace Chinese culture without conflating it with the CCP. Culture is borderless & Chinese culture exists in so many places outside of mainland China (TW, Singapore, etc).

It’s all about context. Like, in many ways traditional Chinese culture (tea arts, Chinese fine-dining) is stronger here in TW than the mainland. But just because we identify as culturally Chinese...does not mean we identify as part of the People’s Republic of China.

As a reporter on Chinese food and culture beat, this is one of my biggest frustrations. I obv cannot write about traditional Taiwanese values, for example, without talking about Confucianism & Taoism. But just b/c these concepts are Chinese in origin, does not mean we are !

chinese cooking techniques form the foundation of the food I grew up with. Like how classic french techniques form the basis of a lot of western foods. Just b/c i cover this stuff with enthusiasm & positivity, does not mean I am a govt mouthpiece lolz.

I also LOVE traveling in mainland China & having that moment of shared solidarity where it’s like “we are of the same culture & I get you” See this series I did with DXXG: https://www.goldthread2.com/series/goldthread-x-dianxi-xiaoge/3099273

But again (one more time for the ppl in the back) my enthusiasm and positivity towards Chinese ppl, culture, and food has nothing to do with my politics. Nor should it have to.