It’s rare to witness such an unbiased view of China, US, and their problems.
I dream of a world in which these biggest countries unite together to grant peace and basic human rights to every person on Earth.
I dream of a world in which these biggest countries unite together to grant peace and basic human rights to every person on Earth.
ABCs are attached to both worlds, and thus are likely to feel pride and shame for both countries. Sometimes they will feel more loyalty towards one world over the other and sometimes the loyalties cancel out where you're left with a rare person who can look at the situation completely impartially.
Gordon Chang “china will implode” articles are a popular straw man whenever any news articles mentions China possibly going into recession.
The percentage of impartiality among ethnic minorities born in the US like ABCs have a tendency to be much higher then normal. I wouldn't say it's the majority but it's definitely much higher then normal.
He spends a few paragraphs talking about how returning to NYC/SF was disappointing, that the NYC subways were strictly worse than he remembered, then turns around and says "the real [America] is getting better". Huh? Based on what? The stock market?
Being a Chinese liberal in 2024 is an exercise in cognitive dissonance and blind faith. You have to just believe that Xi's China is about to collapse, and Biden's America is on the cusp of a golden age. You have to ignore decades-deep trends (in education, development, economic inequality, geopolitics) and wish that they are going to suddenly reverse. Because of an 80 year old POTUS who has been US Senator since 50 years ago when Shenzhen was a dumpy fishing village? It's a very difficult ideological position right now.
Dan isn't outright lying, but he is omitting a lot of uncomfortable truths (long-term trends) in order to reinforce his worldview.
Voluntary expats in particular are unreliable narrators because they are incentivized to fit in their new home and defend their major life choice. An expat that expresses loyalty to their old country over their new one is not really an expat, they will be viewed socially as an eternal outsider, foreign agent or invasive settler.