Defend China. How is it currently socialist?
Some things to respond to (the gatcha questions):
The rapid expansion of capital, foreign and local, and the reemergence of capital accumulation as a production goal in the end of the 20th century
The existence of megacorporations, especially private megacorporations such as tencent and foxconn
the state of labor rights in the aforementioned megacorporations, and the state of labor rights in the industrial sector as a whole
The repression of marxist and leftist protest and critique of the current state of the system
The apparent lack of repression of non-leftist critique (I could easily be convinced that this is just because they're amplified by American media)
The great firewall (I could be convinced this is protectionism to avoid Western silicon valley capitalism's supremacy on the internet)
The social credit system
idk i guess talk about the Uyghurs if you want, but I don't really want that to become the entire discussion, as it has a tendency to be, so if you talk about that, don't make it the entirety of your defense or attack
and let's try to keep this relatively civil? Like, a random post and argument between some leftists on the internet isn't actually going to like, collapse china's rising economic and political power into nothing. We can't actually do shit about china, good or not, so try not to make this a flame war?
My understanding is that the Uyghurs as an ethnic minority face similar sorts of discrimination, economic inequality, and oppression as do ethnic minorities in other advanced capitalist nations. This isn’t to say “hey look, the USA is bad too,” and use finger pointing to skirt around the key questions, which is a pretty common tactic for those who apologize for the Chinese bourgeoisie (see, for example, everyone posting screeds ITT).
I’d point out that capitalist productive relations breed oppression and inequality and crisis, and China, with its liberalization and reintegration into global capitalism, is no exception. The solution should be obvious to socialists—workers’ control and socialism are the material basis by which we improve conditions for oppressed peoples in China or elsewhere.
Of course there is no leadership from the CPC, or their defenders, in line with this working class perspective. There is only a flagrantly anti-Marxist perspective that capitalism has not yet developed “enough” (how much is enough?) to support socialism, despite China probably having the most powerful working class in history and an obvious capacity to develop under rational planning by the working class.