anon · 6d
hi, i'm a longtime follower on your priv but don't feel comfortable DMing, which is why i'm writing to you here since i'm not sure how else to reach you. you don't have to respond to this and i get it if this feels like overstepping, but i felt like i had to say something. with the recent hype around XHS, i noticed you recently RTed some accounts which minimize 6/4 (aka the tiananmen square massacre) or support the one-china policy. and as a chinese diaspora person who is a leftist but still has a healthy distrust of the ccp...please. please, try to keep a level head on your shoulders. you seem cool and adept at cutting through american propaganda, which is nice. but please know chinese propaganda also goes crazy. i get that it's exciting to talk to leftists from around the world, but we have our fair share of problems, and anyone who uncritically paints the PRC as some kind of fantasy socialist utopia should be viewed with skepticism if not outright contempt. a good rule of thumb is to remember chinese imperialism exists and is just about as awful as american imperialism. please learn to apply that lens if you want to speak on asian politics. if you really want to learn more about the PRC, i recommend china digital times and made in china journal; both have solid english-language coverage and analysis, and you can continue exploring from there. CDT in particular is great for learning about chinese memes and online culture. i genuinely think it's nice you're interested in learning more about us, but it's also important that you don't go hurtling off in a weird direction
hi!! ty for sending this message. ur right that i don't know a lot about chinese imperialism yet although i do know a bit about chinese propaganda and corruption. im honestly very open to learning from any source that doesn't have ties to the CIA. Unfortunately CDT is funded by and run by people affiliated with the National Endowment for Democracy, which is a defacto department of the CIA. China Journal doesn't seem to share those affiliations, so I'll check that out. believe me when I say i'm trying to come into new information with an open mind, but at this time i've heard prevailing narratives from america, and even from chinese leftists, for my whole life that are being challenged. i obviously don't want to hear misinformation but i do want to hear the truth, yknow? it's so hard to find One Truth and i don't think i can, but i want to at least gather as many sides as i can and hunt down a truth that isn't state-sponsored in any way. i keep asking myself: who does it serve for me to believe this? who does it hurt? and my retweeting of some things from an account isn't an endorsement of everything someone says.
but thank you for sending this message, i am well aware that no country is a perfect country, and that no system with poverty exists without repression, and i do know that china implements state repression. however, it does seem like some of the things presented here might still be american propaganda, ngl!
