The shift comes as Beijing is expanding its military and technological prowess — and as China’s reputation in the United States has plummeted dramatically amid concerns that it will use underhand tactics to achieve leader Xi Jinping’s vision of a world where the U.S. and China are equal.

lmao, wtf. that SNEAKY master of DECEPTION, using TRICKERY and CHICANERY to achieve... peer status as sovereign states.

the impudence!

I hate this country. I don't have anything funny to say.

America, which is called “Meiguo” or “beautiful country” in Chinese, was the bastion of wealth and ease.

It's only called that (美国) through abbreviation, the full name is [美]利坚合众[国] meilijian hezhongguo (Federation of American States) where meilijian is 译音/transliteration/phonetic. The 美 on its own yes means beautiful but it's used here for sound not meaning.

Same for people who think England (英国 yingguo) is the 'heroic' country when it's also just another abbreviation, this time of 英格兰 yinggelan or [英]联王[国].

This coincides with my own observations and from talking to friends and family on the mainland some large changes have occurred and only accelerated especially since COVID.

1. Many people are very proud of the country and what China has been able to accomplish in the last half century or so. The old image of the mainland being some sort of backwater is more or less gone. The material gains and improvements of the lives of the people are impossible to deny and the accomplishments in science, culture, and many other fields is likewise impossible to ignore.

2. Opinion of other nations especially the west and America are a lot lower as a result. This isn't to say that most people hate or dislike the west. It's more so a quiet disappointment in a lot of ways. For example I was talking to a cousin of mines about visiting Tokyo and her response was that it's pretty mediocre. The prevailing opinion is that many places are nice in terms of unique atmosphere or culture but there's really nothing you could not find in some province on the mainland. Between this shift in perception and the restriction of air travel by the west it's no surprise that domestic tourism has become such a behemoth since COVID.

3. These opinions have made it harder for the more liberal minded individuals to make any argument that are pro-western. The shiny western model that was so progressive and new 40 years ago has definitely lost its shine. I think public opinion while not explicitly leftist are leaning more and more towards that side. Even more reactionary members of the chinese diaspora I have talked to are having a much harder time justifying or defending their old positions especially if they have visiting the motherland in recent years. Overall, I think it will be interesting to see the natural development of socialist soft power in the coming decades and how it may affect our own ability to enact revolution and change in the west as the failings of capitalism become more and more obvious.

“It works in Xi Jinping’s favor if the United States is seen in the eyes of the Chinese people as deteriorating and implacably hostile to China,” he said.

Oh so they aren't blind.

It's absurd the degree to which the US wants to constantly berate and attack China but expects China to ignore it and treat the US as a normal, reasonable trade partner and follow their lead in international politics.

The most having your cake and eating it nation in history.

https://hexbear.net/post/342327

Good, means the Chinese are paying attention

Still not negative enough.

Most people do not give a shit about America, a man was interviewed on the streets and he simply said, "I don't know, I'm just on my way to buy some soy sauce." Americans seethe far more about China than Chinese seethe about America. Could it be that they're negligent? Or maybe America is a paper eagle without any real threat behind them.