The Western left doesn't need to 'rediscover' Chinese socialism when Chinese socialism in practice is more or less just Western capitalism.

If Qiao is actually serious about engaging with leftist ideas - *any* leftist ideas - they'd be writing about brutal conditions workers face on the ground, or how unfettered capitalism is feeding on low wages & forced labour, enabled by institutions which just don't give a shit.

If what's going on in China is your view of what socialism is, then you're probably not a leftist.

And if your stance is that 'at least it's not American'... buddy, the caged bird's main concern isn't whether its prison is China- or US-made. It just wants to be free.

Certain parts of the left & diaspora need to stop projecting their ideals of socialism and/or sourceland onto China. The country's not all bad, but it's not the utopia that's in many people's heads, and definitely not what the blueprint to a more equal and just world should be.

And for those who are still under the illusion that China is socialist - even *state media* calls it capitalist. https://twitter.com/SixthTone/status/1336008078660145155?s=20