Main false narratives created by the Western world about China:
1. Social credit score — It doesn’t exist at all. It was purely based on an Alipay credit card points interface that triggered 1984 enthusiasts to start fantasizing.
2. Tank Man was killed — Completely false. Tank Man was reluctantly taken away by his own companions. Before that, he even climbed onto the tank.
3. Ethnic minorities are not allowed to use their own languages and can only speak Mandarin — Doesn’t exist. Even Chinese RMB banknotes feature the scripts of major ethnic minorities. Meanwhile, the political asylum seekers who keep pushing this claim usually only speak fluent English and often can’t speak Mandarin at all.
4. China’s oil reserves are fake and have been embezzled — The rumor-mongers used a video of Premier Li Qiang inspecting an empty food warehouse, but forgot to Photoshop the warehouse name.
5. All Chinese people eat dogs — The actual proportion of Chinese people who eat dog meat is far lower than in South Korea, Vietnam, and many other countries, and even lower than in Europe. China is a massive country with over a billion pet cats and dogs, generating an industry worth tens of billions of USD — clearly not animals raised for meat.
6. China arrested millions of people in Xinjiang — Rumor spreaders used publicly released criminal case statistics from Xinjiang. Obviously, the number of criminal cases has nothing to do with mass arrests. Even more absurdly, Xinjiang’s criminal case numbers are not higher than those of other major provinces in China.
7. China has large areas of slums in its cities — What they call “slums” in major Chinese cities are mostly “urban villages” (chengzhongcun). They exist because the government strongly protects private property, making redevelopment costs extremely high. The landlords of these “slums” are almost all wealthy people.
8. Chinese police can check your ID anytime — This was true in Hong Kong since the British colonial period, but in mainland China you can legally refuse.
9. It is a crime for individuals in China to use a VPN to access foreign websites — False. Chinese law restricts enterprises and social organizations from using unauthorized outbound VPNs, but there is actually no legal prohibition for individual personal use.
10. The number of Michelin restaurants determines the food quality of Chinese cities — Most Michelin restaurants do not represent real Chinese cuisine and are often overhyped. Following Chinese domestic food bloggers is a much better way to understand the actual food scene.
11. Foreigners cannot use Visa cards — False. As long as you use WeChat or Alipay, you can use digital credit cards and even pay at roadside stalls.
12. Foreigners cannot stay in regular local hotels — Since 2022, the government has prohibited non-“foreign-related” hotels from refusing foreigners.