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> I asked a Chinese national friend of mine. He said that the system sounded good, because it would decrease the rate of crime. The only time I've ever gotten

> I asked a Chinese national friend of mine. He said that the system sounded good, because it would decrease the rate of crime. The only time I've ever gotten an objective opinion about China from a national was when they became a citizen of another country, had no remaining family there and no intent to return. > The sorts of things you're talking about are genuinely not on the radar of the average person over there. It would require education they specifically and intentionally don't have. This is a bit...presumptive, at the least. Why would you assume ignorance just because people living within reach of the long arm of a Stasi-equivalent refuse to say anything but positive things about the current regime? They may not have access to science fiction or accurate domestic history books but that doesn't mean they can't see what's going on.

ep103 8y ago
> The only time I've ever gotten an objective opinion about China from a national was when they became a citizen of another country, had no remaining family there and no intent to return. This appears to be the key. Which of course, takes a generation or two, because its rare that someone leaves and absolutely everyone in the family tree comes at the same time as well. And of course by that time, the person in question no longer has experience with China.
tivert 8y ago
> The only time I've ever gotten an objective opinion about China from a national was when they became a citizen of another country, had no remaining family there and no intent to return. That's a little over the top. Chinese people can be open and objective with non-Chinese if you get to know them well. The tricky thing is that if you don't know them well and frame things in an in-group vs. out-group way and seem to criticize their "Chinese" in-group as an outsider, they might feel the need to defend their in-group (China and it's government) whether they believe it or not. >> The sorts of things you're talking about are genuinely not on the radar of the average person over there. It would require education they specifically and intentionally don't have. > This is a bit...presumptive, at the least. They can see what's going on, but they're going to have a different perspective and different sensitivities. E.g. being less attuned to privacy-based skepticism, but more attuned to corruption-based skepticism.

ep103 8y ago

> The only time I've ever gotten an objective opinion about China from a national was when they became a citizen of another country, had no remaining family there and no intent to return. This appears to be the key. Which of course, takes a generation or two, because its rare that someone leaves and absolutely everyone in the family tree comes at the same time as well. And of course by that time, the person in question no longer has experience with China.

tivert 8y ago

> The only time I've ever gotten an objective opinion about China from a national was when they became a citizen of another country, had no remaining family there and no intent to return. That's a little over the top. Chinese people can be open and objective with non-Chinese if you get to know them well. The tricky thing is that if you don't know them well and frame things in an in-group vs. out-group way and seem to criticize their "Chinese" in-group as an outsider, they might feel the need to defend their in-group (China and it's government) whether they believe it or not. >> The sorts of things you're talking about are genuinely not on the radar of the average person over there. It would require education they specifically and intentionally don't have. > This is a bit...presumptive, at the least. They can see what's going on, but they're going to have a different perspective and different sensitivities. E.g. being less attuned to privacy-based skepticism, but more attuned to corruption-based skepticism.