Young Western social media users are embracing a “very Chinese time” of their lives, and China’s government is keen to use this moment to boost the country’s cultural influence worldwide.
You’re right that the grass always looks greener on the other side. I’m sure a large number of the Gen Z people who post Chinamaxxing memes only do it in jest and/or wouldn’t do it if they knew a bit more of what they would have to give up to live in China (especially if they’re queer, but otherwise moreso in the realm of access to cheap foreign goods that people in imperialist countries get than “free speech” which anyone on TikTok of all platforms has already learned is never guaranteed in a capitalist country). Yet Western countries seem to be backsliding on those aspects, while the older generation in China that’s stricter and more conservative is aging out of politics. I think you don’t have to be pollyannaish to think that in ~20 years, China will have surpassed the largest issues you might have with it, but it gets harder and harder to think Western countries will do the same.
we all know only the “right people” have access to western internet
Quite literally anyone in China is capable of grabbing a VPN and have unsupervised access to the same internet as you and me. The so-called “great firewall” only exists as a means of making it more difficult for Chinese internet users to patronize Western (mostly American) internet services. If there was no firewall, companies like Meta and Google would have access to the Chinese market and it would be hard for local Chinese companies like WeChat or BiliBili to grow.
You’re right that the grass always looks greener on the other side. I’m sure a large number of the Gen Z people who post Chinamaxxing memes only do it in jest and/or wouldn’t do it if they knew a bit more of what they would have to give up to live in China (especially if they’re queer, but otherwise moreso in the realm of access to cheap foreign goods that people in imperialist countries get than “free speech” which anyone on TikTok of all platforms has already learned is never guaranteed in a capitalist country). Yet Western countries seem to be backsliding on those aspects, while the older generation in China that’s stricter and more conservative is aging out of politics. I think you don’t have to be pollyannaish to think that in ~20 years, China will have surpassed the largest issues you might have with it, but it gets harder and harder to think Western countries will do the same.
Quite literally anyone in China is capable of grabbing a VPN and have unsupervised access to the same internet as you and me. The so-called “great firewall” only exists as a means of making it more difficult for Chinese internet users to patronize Western (mostly American) internet services. If there was no firewall, companies like Meta and Google would have access to the Chinese market and it would be hard for local Chinese companies like WeChat or BiliBili to grow.