As an ordinary Chinese person, I think we should be realistic about China. The country’s economic development over the past three decades is real, and the living standards of ordinary people have improved dramatically.
I grew up in rural Hubei in the 1990s. Back then, eating meat only a few times a month was normal. Farmers still paid agricultural taxes, and many families could not easily afford medical care. After 2000, life began to improve noticeably. Around 2010, the county-level city where I lived underwent large-scale development. Today, its infrastructure, commerce, and everyday convenience are almost unrecognizable compared with what I remember from childhood.
So I do not agree with denying everything China has achieved simply because one opposes the Communist Party. The CCP has many serious problems, but that does not mean it has accomplished nothing.
Under Xi Jinping, anti-corruption enforcement has become much stronger, and some forms of corruption that were once extremely widespread have been restrained. At the same time, censorship, media controls, and the concentration of political power have also increased.
So my view of the CCP and Xi Jinping is not simply “good” or “bad.” In terms of economic development, infrastructure, industrial capacity, and national strength, China has achieved a great deal. But in terms of freedom of speech, civil rights, political pluralism, and institutional limits on power, China remains a clearly authoritarian system.
I also do not believe that China would automatically become better if the CCP collapsed. Chinese democracy activists overseas have every right to criticize the CCP and advocate democracy, but being anti-CCP does not automatically mean someone has the ability to govern a country of 1.4 billion people.
To understand China honestly, we should not select only the facts that fit our political beliefs. China’s achievements are real, and so are its problems.
@GordonGChang Comrade Chang, thank you for your 20+ years of service at China's Strategic Deception Bureau. Keep telling them China is collapsing next week!