and no one is surprised
this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2026
266 points (96.8% liked)
World News
55413 readers
2350 users here now
A community for discussing events around the World
Rules:
-
Rule 1: posts have the following requirements:
- Post news articles only
- Video links are NOT articles and will be removed.
- Title must match the article headline
- Not United States Internal News
- Recent (Past 30 Days)
- Screenshots/links to other social media sites (Twitter/X/Facebook/Youtube/reddit, etc.) are explicitly forbidden, as are link shorteners.
-
Rule 2: Do not copy the entire article into your post. The key points in 1-2 paragraphs is allowed (even encouraged!), but large segments of articles posted in the body will result in the post being removed. If you have to stop and think "Is this fair use?", it probably isn't. Archive links, especially the ones created on link submission, are absolutely allowed but those that avoid paywalls are not.
-
Rule 3: Opinions articles, or Articles based on misinformation/propaganda may be removed.
-
Rule 4: Posts or comments that are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, anti-religious, or ableist will be removed. “Ironic” prejudice is just prejudiced.
-
Posts and comments must abide by the lemmy.world terms of service UPDATED AS OF OCTOBER 19 2025
-
Rule 5: Keep it civil. It's OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It's NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
-
Rule 6: Memes, spam, other low effort posting, reposts, misinformation, advocating violence, off-topic, trolling, offensive, regarding the moderators or meta in content may be removed at any time.
-
Rule 7: We didn't USED to need a rule about how many posts one could make in a day, then someone posted NINETEEN articles in a single day. Not comments, FULL ARTICLES. If you're posting more than say, 10 or so, consider going outside and touching grass. We reserve the right to limit over-posting so a single user does not dominate the front page.
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
Lemmy World Partners
News !news@lemmy.world
Politics !politics@lemmy.world
World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world
Recommendations
For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/
- Consider including the article’s mediabiasfactcheck.com/ link
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Breaking things people care about will do that.
China didn't surpass the USA, the USA slunk behind China. They didn't get better, but we got a lot worse ✨
Their score went up 4 points, and they're almost even rated now with their disapproval rating. So yeah they are doing great PR.
or maybe people are just learning truth
no surprise, tiktok did wonders
China: thank god the bar moved soo much lower
Chinese leadership must be so confused about WTF America is doing. This is the worthy adversary they've been plotting against for decades, and now it's just YOLOing everything on aimless bombing campaigns and insults/actual threats to it's own sphere.
What they see as fortune just dropped onto their lap. Now they're speedrunning to 2049.
Considering China is an authoritarian regime that has no issue with "reeducating" and "disappearing" millions of its own citizens and is bullying its near neighbours making claims over their land and is threatening (with actions) to forcibly reintegrate Taiwan, to be more popular globally than America is no mean feat.
Same way people are supporting Iran over them, even though they are objectively terrible from a moral and ethical standpoint. The world has quickly disregarded the fact they only a couple of months ago they noisily and publicly executed 10s of thousands of protesters.
America is now more unpopular than them. Thats how deep they have sunk
Multiple lies in your comment, just straight up bullshit lies but you are westerner, the most propagandized species ever who gulps whatever the liberal media says without a second thhought so cant expect more
Hilarious
The US is literally doing all the things you're accusing China of. The only reason it gets a pass on the massive carceral state, the largest in the world by far, is because its cultural industry has so normalized it.
The big difference is that China is a net positive when it comes to global stability and addressing climate change, whereas the US is not.
Those of us who care about things like democracy and human rights have a lot of digging to do.
No one is giving the U.S. a pass. This is a deliberate mischaracterization.
Until this regime, the U.S. had some of the best solar subsidies on the planet.
The U.S., as a surveillance state, is still in its infancy when compared to China. So it is laughable that you are using China in any comparison to the U.S., in almost the same breath.
"Carceral State" is a tanky propagandist dog whistle.
Why don't you debate faults on their own? Because you are deliberately trying to use current bad conduct, of the U.S. to whitewash another country's bad conduct.
"Oh hey, the U.S. is super shitty, but we have made so much solar in the past year so we're all about global stability."
Ignore EVERYTHING China has done though, only look at the bad that the U.S. is doing.
I'm sure you have plenty of arguments that support or claim how China has been with: Taiwan
Uygher people
Support of North Korea
Support of Russia against Ukraine
Tibet
The horde of nonsense "technological breakthroughs" that seem to come every month but never amount to anything and just disappear.
The pollution that has been produced by Chinese industry that pretends to adhere to global standards but get busted when college students use basic satellite data.
Suppression of Hong Kong
China's state sponsored industrial espionage.
China's disregard of human rights abroad when kidnapping Chinese dissidents from foreign countries.
(This is just me pulling the random items I can just immediately recall)?
But that is all Western propaganda I'm sure. Feel free to break out your playbook responses.
I didn't use bad language this time for you to get my comment deleted, since suppression is one of your biggest tools.
Funny, ten minutes ago I wrote this: https://lemmy.ca/comment/22610922 literally further down the this very thread.
How can you at the same time say that "carceral state" is a tankie dogwhistle, and also say that nobody is giving the US a pass?
Easy. They are not mutually exclusive?
How many TP Link routers, were found to be compromised by China and had to be removed from U.S. infrastructure?
Why does China restrict access to the internet without massive censure?
Your link just takes me back to your parent comment.
Your entire argument is the pot calling the kettle black.
If you were just discussing the shitty things the U.S. is doing, I would be in total agreement, but you are trying to shoehorn "How great China is" into the discussion.
No matter how terrible the U.S. is and gets, it will not erase all the terrible things China has and is doing too. No matter how much you argue otherwise.
The link works for me. What can I tell you, I'm literally debating shitty Chinese policies with user "stumu415" on a different sub thread here. Search for the string "IAGS" in the comments under this post. I'm tired trying to convince you I'm not an elephant when you continuously make bad faith assumptions and miscaracterise what I'm saying.
Edit: if you're denying the existence of mass incarceration system in the US (aka the carcéral state) you're denying reality and absolutely giving the US a pass.
Actually this. Thank you. But unfortunately on the web you can not express anything positive or even neutral about China. Even though most have never set foot in China. If they would especially now most countries can travel visa free to China, it will change their mind. But that goes against the western propaganda.
China is an amazing country with beautiful nature, great people, amazing food, infrastructure Americans can only dream of, and millenia of history.
Plus China don't starts illegal wars with other countries, impacting people all over the world.
To be clear, I am not denying those accusations against China. The Uighur genocide is recognized by the International Association of Genocide Scholars; one cannot cite the IAGS on Gaza and ignore it on Xinjiang. The mass surveillance is also real, the censorship around the Tienanmen massacre is silly Orwellian, and the strangulation of Hong Kong democracy is lamentable. The atrocious working conditions and the iron disciplining of labour is also all too real (I've had multiple discussions with Chinese people who bragged about how there are no strikes in China.)
I was only trying to be fair and balanced, because as Westerners we are too often giving ourselves a pass: 1) China is a net positive for the green transition due to solar, at a time when the US is going full fossil fascist. And 2) it is a pole of stability internationally, in ways that the trumpist US and Israel-enabling EU have not been.
Edit: typos and such
Partially agree with you but a lot of things you raised are the same in western countries. It's also refreshing to read sensible commentary. The mass surveillance is the same in other countries including the US, but not as obvious as in China. The cameras work as a deterrent. I can leave my phone and laptop outside in the park or café and don't need to worry about it being stolen. Censorship is a real thing all over the world especially now in the US with whitewashing of history. Even on US controlled platforms like Reddit, you get perma banned if you are critical of the Trump administration.
And I'm sure the history books in the US do not go in depth about the treatment of tge native Americans and how they were almost eradicated.
The same in Europe. In the Netherlands the history books never mention the atrocities the VOC did in regards to slave trade and colonies.
I don't agree about the working conditions. I travel all over China and deal with different businesses. Things are definitely improving. But at least the workers have workers protections and social security and health care.
I have both lived and worked in the US and China and prefer living in China.
Let's get the downvotes started
Things being bad or somewhat bad on the West is irrelevant in a discussion about whatever China is doing. One of the most infuriating things we Canadians say is the phrase "at least we're not as bad as the US". Fuck that.
If mass surveillance is unacceptable in the West, it's also unacceptable in China. No ifs and buts. That western surveillance is primarily commercial and secondarily political, whereas is China it's the other way around doesn't mean any of the two is ok.
And no, censorship is not the same everywhere, that's just false. We don't all hide our history and of course free speech is part of the fight for that.
That's I guess my biggest suspicion with China as well, especially when it comes to labour. In China labour issues as seen as something for the state to manage through official unions. And I don't buy the whole-process democracy thing. It's too cooptive, too "harmonious". Not buying.
load more comments
(4 replies)
load more comments
(20 replies)
There are some important, but not surprising takeaways from this article.
-
World approval ratings for the US are dependent on political party. That is, they are much higher when democrats are in power.
-
The world view on China has also primarily decreased over the past 20 years, however with Trump, the U.S. was able to win the race to the bottom.
-
You will not be surprised by the countries who have higher approval ratings for the U.S. since Trump’s second term. China doesn’t have any data, but I’m certain they too are very happy Trump got re-elected. A destabilized US is a happy Russia and China.
Not particularly fond of either of them
May I ask if you're fond of any country? If so, how do they compare to China?
I wouldn't say fond of, but I prefer the socialist aspects of some of the Nordic countries.
You dont have to be fond of them
I know, they are both trying to expand their influence across the world, its a damn shame
load more comments
(7 replies)
view more: next ›