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Comment by benlumen | Hacker News Reader

Western corporations should be fleeing China like rats from a ship at this point.

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/10/06/unfavorable-vi...

China has a branding problem. Instead of garnering support, building rapport through collaboration and mutual growth, their PR strategy is immature and misplaced at best, damaging and crippling at worst. Lashing out, isolationism, asymmetric trade, human rights issues and generally going against democracy is putting them at odds with everyone else.

China could have played this so much better.

China has a branding problem.

A network of concentration camps, forced labour and forced sterilization is more than a branding problem [1]

Given the scale of abuse, you could argue that it is branding success.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/04/muslim-minorit...

Exactly. The fact that given the level of evil China is carrying out and has been for decades, the fact that the rest of the world hasn't decided to wipe out the CCP, or at the very least fully embargo China can only be seen as a massive branding success. All those Confucius Institutions embedded in the US university system are doing wonders for China.

Hmm... if a company blackmails people into submission, exploiting their economic dependence - we wouldn't call that positive PR. Branding success is "I love this company." and investing in long term goodwill of the brand. This is directly supported by the GP's link to the Pew research polls that show how they're squandering their reputation around the world.

What you are describing is Economic Coercion: https://www.csis.org/analysis/time-collective-pushback-again...

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