They are becoming more progressive, just slowly. They tried going faster in the cultural revolution, and it was disastrous.
It might feel painfully slow compared to Western progressivism, but that's because it's educating and incrementing generationally so that the changes happen with the popular support of billions of people, and they stick.
In the West they will force progressive values into law while half or more of the population still oppose it, and so they move 3 steps forward but then 2-4 steps backward as they flutter between parties in their circus democracies.
Look at women's rights like abortion and workplace equality. The gig economy is less than 10 years old and China and Vietnam look after the welfare of workers in that new industry better.
China and Vietnam are already ahead of the West in a lot of progressive respects. We'll see China having better LGBTQ rights than the West in our lifetimes.
In the meantime be wary of letting liberals cherry pick the benchmarks for measuring which place is more progressive - they'll always hyperfocus on LGBTQ for progressivism until the day the West falls behind on it (and it will), and then they'll find something else.
They are becoming more progressive, just slowly. They tried going faster in the cultural revolution, and it was disastrous.
It might feel painfully slow compared to Western progressivism, but that's because it's educating and incrementing generationally so that the changes happen with the popular support of billions of people, and they stick.
In the West they will force progressive values into law while half or more of the population still oppose it, and so they move 3 steps forward but then 2-4 steps backward as they flutter between parties in their circus democracies.
Look at women's rights like abortion and workplace equality. The gig economy is less than 10 years old and China and Vietnam look after the welfare of workers in that new industry better. China and Vietnam are already ahead of the West in a lot of progressive respects. We'll see China having better LGBTQ rights than the West in our lifetimes.
In the meantime be wary of letting liberals cherry pick the benchmarks for measuring which place is more progressive - they'll always hyperfocus on LGBTQ for progressivism until the day the West falls behind on it (and it will), and then they'll find something else.
[edit for typo]