The post translated below, from WeChat account 守一手记 (Shǒuyī Shǒujì, “Shouyi’s Notes”),
examines conflicting attitudes and selective scrutiny on Chinese social media when it comes to foreign views of China.
Foreign media coverage may be met with hostility, and foreign involvement identified, without evidence, behind
"hyping" of public safety issues, but foreign praise is often uncritically embraced. When Western "TikTok refugees" flooded onto Xiaohongshu in early 2025, for example, some Chinese netizens were
quick to celebrate the visitors’ dazed wonderment at living standards in contemporary urban middle-class China. (Others had
more critical responses that resonate with the translation below.)
