How would you answer this, and how would you expect Chinese netizens on Xiaohongshu to answer?
I will link to the thread in the comments because I want you to take a moment and think about it first.
How would you answer this, and how would you expect Chinese netizens on Xiaohongshu to answer?
I will link to the thread in the comments because I want you to take a moment and think about it first.
Link
If you don't have the app, it may be hard to view, so here are some screenshots
Damn, they blocked Tor Browser.
I went to Fennec with uBlock on and VPN enabled (privacy reasons), the first thing I see is a download attempt of the 小红书 .apk file. I tap X, and it does it again. Damn, seem like Reddit all over again. 🤦♂️
Also, they require a +86 phone number for registration. 🤔 Not a fan of that. Its like Facebook + region locking. Well I guess it make sense… too many TikTok refugees lol.
I had to change to user agent to windows. The comments are pretty chill, unlike some other Chinese sites. I don’t see any “MAGA” type comments like you would see on twitter.
Edit: Hmm my webpage only shows like 10 comments, then stops showing… 🤔
Looks like I was dead-on, haha.
Tbh, I was shocked. Much as I’m sympathetic towards China, but I still usually look at it through a lens of realpolitik, like, “Of course they’re vying for dominance like everyone else, but at least they’re doing it through economic development instead of wars, and it’s better if there are two major powers instead of one.” Maybe that cynical perspective is more realistic, and maybe XHS users aren’t a representative sample of all Chinese people, but still, the fact that so many of the replies were so hopeful and internationalist was genuinely moving to me.
Well, you’re correct that XHS isn’t the general population of China, it skews middle-high income, so you aren’t getting the full picture. However, from what I’ve read from many younger Chinese political activists and analysts is that as China is now heavily industrialized, there is a sense of moving out of the over-ambitious optimism of the previous generations to a more grounded, educated, realistic optimism that is genuinely more hopeful as a consequence of its grounding.
China has libs. China has problems. China has struggles. But, by virtue of its position and strategy, the people also take on a generally internationalist character. “Let a hundred flowers bloom,” Socialism with Chinese Characteristics is a prediction, more than a description. It’s a prediction of Socialism with Ugandan Characteristics, Canadian, Brazilian, etc. That gives a sense of their overall attitude, IMO.