Are you concerned about CCP's influence on public opinion?
To be honest, I was once influenced by CCP propaganda about how China was becoming the world’s number one power when I was 14. I admired China obsessively. That changed as I got older—especially after seeing China’s threats toward Taiwan, its partial support for my country’s regime after the start of the war in Ukraine, and, most importantly, after watching Laowhy86’s videos.
Back in 2019, when I considered myself "pro-China," I don’t think people were as impressed by the country as they seem to be today. Before that, China was viewed as a poor, repressive dystopia.
It’s not hard to fall into that mindset when you’re young and apolitical, especially when you’re seeing things like Trump dominating headlines with controversial statements and policies.
Today, bright, colorful videos of Shanghai buildings that are full of RGB-lighting are everywhere. On top of that, Chinese bots manipulate the algorithms of our social media platforms despite them being banned there.
I’ve even seen this shift among people around me. My German teacher is an intelligent man, but has praised China several times and suggested that Europe is no longer as developed.
My Chinese teacher, while acknowledging that her country is a dictatorship, said that things are improving there, as if returning wouldn’t be bad.
It feels like this topic isn’t being discussed enough in the media.