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The sino board is about this kinda stuff specifically.
The short version is that no. There is nothing to the propaganda, it is our government's attempt to start another cold war to get their beaks wet.
Long version, there are some issues, however they are not the issues you see on the news. The main narrative does also ignore that some genuinely cool good and innovative stuff going on.
I can break it down point by point if you dont wanna just vibe over there
Ignore the stans. The truth is we live in such a propagandized era that it is very difficult to know what the deal is with any of those subjects. Both America and China are massively powerful political machines with more than enough resources to try and turn the narrative in their favor. Trust neither to give you an accurate understanding of events that implicate their interests.
Best approach: who cares what's going on in HK, Xinyang, and Tibet. Unless you live there, whatever is or is not going on in those areas is not your concern. Lots of folks in the West - assuming you're from the West - have been sold on this idea that we somehow have the mandate to weigh in on occurrences in other nations without being asked to, and that our opinions should be taken seriously. We need to make a concentrated effort to stop imposing value judgments on other countries, respect national sovereignty, and focus our efforts inward. Moving away from the framework of imposing our will externally is what's best for all involved.
That said, if Americ decided to liberate Xinjiang, it would be our duty to stop it. If China and America drew working people into conflict or would be our duty to lay down our arms. We should respect the limits of our knowledge, but at the end of the day the most important thing is that we are internationalists.
I’d suggest listening to either Silk and Steel, or the Radio War Nerd épisodes with Carl Zha. Those have been fairly well balanced, while also being informative.
If you just want the TL;DR for each, however:
Tibet: feudal society that was reincorporated into China in 1950s by consensus. America started dropping guérillas in to try to restore/maintain the aristocracy. Rebellion put down with PLA. Social order maintained since.
Xinjiang: sparse, western region that was reincorporated into China, again by consensus, in 1950s. Significant Muslim population. When China was helping America and Pakistan ship militant islamists to soviet Afghanistan, some of that travelled back to Xinjiang too. Add in how Han benefitted more from Reform and Opening Up due to connections to the core of China, and you end up with a radicalising, disconnected society on the fringe, with America keen to take advantage. Also, it’s on the path of the Belt and Road Initiative. Various terrorist attacks. Chinese approach has been mass re-education and employment programmes, to break Islamism and incorporate people into the economy.
Hong Kong: taken by British in 1841, and used as a colony and bulkhead for forcible opening of Chinese markets to British opium. Taken back, by consensus, in 1997. Agreement was to remain capitalist until 2047. Used as a means of getting capital injection from the outside world during Reform and Opening Up. Became a hypercapitalist hellscape with real estate prices through the roof. Even more blatant electoral capture by bourgeois interests than America. Local bourgeoisie form the power base of CPC, as CPC otherwise doesn’t really operate in HK. Education system still fairly British and anti-China. American NGOs allowed to operate freely up until very recently. Chinese approach has been to pass a security law (that HK was supposed to pass itself decades ago) to prevent American influence and separatism. Hypercapitalist material conditions likely to remain until the HK bourgeoisie’s hold is broken.
I can do more detail for each if you like, but that’s the rough gist.
Into the twenty-first century, via the National Endowment for Democracy and other conduits that are more respectable sounding than the CIA, the U.S. Congress continued to allocate an annual $2 million to Tibetans in India, with additional millions for “democracy activities” within the Tibetan exile community. In addition to these funds, the Dalai Lama received money from financier George Soros.
Dalai Lama gets sorosbux too???
No, China has always been exactly as it looks right now and has never once participated in territorial expansion and consolidation.
