> That’s a reasonable explanation, of course, but it contradicts the two points in this thread that caused me to ask those questions: > 1. It was claimed that

> That’s a reasonable explanation, of course, but it contradicts the two points in this thread that caused me to ask those questions: > 1. It was claimed that the the China policy is authoritarian, but the U.S. policy is not authoritarian, because the latter is a democratic government. I think my above point offered a method to resolve this miscommunication by giving a more complete description of what is often meant by 'that policy is authoritarian'. > 2. It was claimed that any reported approval of the Chinese government by the Chinese population is irrelevant, either because the report is fake or because the people are manipulated or “brainwashed.” I think there is a similar miscommunication here that can be resolved, but I am not interested in delving into more topics currently.