It's not just AI. China's medicines are surprising the world, too

“The most effective way of making people accept the validity of the values they are to serve is to persuade them that they are really the same as those which they... have always held, but which were not properly understood or recognized before... the most efficient technique to this end is to use the old words but change their meaning. Few traits of totalitarian regimes are at the same time so confusing to the superficial observer and yet so characteristic of the whole intellectual climate as the complete perversion of language" ~F.A. Hayek

It looked sort of "benevolent", even though the rot under the surface was exposed time and again, with murders, multiple attacks on neighboring countries, and eventually a large-scale war in Europe.

Those who think that Chairman Xi is benevolent and is doing good for China with his long-term wise planning may be up for a very rude awakening. They prefer to somehow push away from their picture of China things like people disappearing, businesses crushed, political commissars at every large business, the whole Xinjiang thing, and the battle dances around Taiwan. When they realize that these are integral parts of the "benevolence", and have been all along, it may be a bit late.

Worked out pretty well for a small upstart nation in the late 18th century called the United States of America

While there are good examples, many people might not be currently familiar with them.

Btw, I'm just explaining why the impression of Chinese products is there and why it doesn't have to be rooted in preconceptions Chinese people as a whole.

Though, also, I kind of thought that people thinking this about China had peaked in the '10s at some point (as with the other examples, China's GDP growth rate has now moderated). Move onto the next country that's going to take over the world, already!