chat

"Han" is also extremely difficult to draw a clear boundary around to gatekeep since there's so much linguistic, cultural, and physical diversity within that group.

There's at least two major dialects and literally countless local dialects, variations on style of dress, food, customs, festivals, even ways of playing common games like majong that makes it extremely difficult to separate out a "Han" identity from a "Chinese" identity. Physically, I have Han friends who are darker in complextion than my Vietnamese friends, some taller than most Euros, etc etc.

The point is that anyone who speaks a Chinese language and understands Chinese culture could very easily self-identify as Han and literally nobody could say otherwise.

Conversely, within the PRC it's actually non-Han minority status that is gatekept because of the generous subsidies and additional rights (preferential university entry, exemption from family planning policies, etc) which are given to minorities.

The One Child Policy is especially illustrative of this point - minorities were completely exempted from this Policy whereas the majority Han group was governed by it. What kind of Ethnofascist suppresses births in the group they supposedly think is superior?

To go off on the point about projection a thing I've personally noted living in both countries is that when it comes to the issues of racism the entrenched nature of it in the western social consciousness and political establishment makes it a much different beast. Like there's no political party in china that has a platform based on the disenfranchisement of a minority group and goes around advertising the fact that the first thing they'll do when in power is to bus them out of the country. As such while there are undoubtedly racist individuals within China, I can think of one particular family member of mine who may hold such opinions, there is no concentration of said racism or a purposeful consolidation of that sort of sentiment towards larger more dangerous actions like here in the west. Considering the fact that most western countries were and to some lesser extent still are ethnostates when it comes to who holds actual power in governance, its not surprise they tend to project that thought onto China.

I think this whole thing is just westerners universalising their own local experience and projecting it onto China - they aren't eradicating poverty they're just cooking the books, they don't trust their government because all (my) government is untrustworthy, they can't be making immense strides in infrastructure because ours is crumbling so everything they build must also be tofu dreg construction etc.

100% correct. most americans are so thoroughly poisoned by capitalist realism that they believe unconsciously that it is impossible for a government to improve its society. so when they encounter evidence that china has done just that, their brains short circuit and they are forced to conclude the evidence is made up. depressing

Death to America

It was only recently that there was a Han (meta)cultural revival. Before then there was a big danger in parts of pre-revolutionary culture disappearing, while minority culture was being preserved. Look, for instance at the historical accuracy of the average Chinese Kung Fu flick vs today.

reminds me of the way Westoids talk about Africa like it's one giant country/ethnicity. no, it's like 1000s of ethnicities!

Xi Jinping personally invented wokism and also the method of shoving it down Gamers' throats.

Easy scapegoat. Hate a balance patch? Blame China.

This is so blatantly untrue, I've met so many PMC Bernie bros who believe this. Actually, I think more PMC Bernie bros think China is Han-supremacist than not...

The issue is they're all hardcore redditors