The study I’m referencing was an anonymous study conducted by Harvard between 2003 and 2016. It would strain credulity to suggest that the study’s participants all anonymously said that they love their government out of fear - firstly because they rated their government a lot lower in 2003 than they did in 2016, secondly because Harvard isn’t exactly in the pocket of the Communist Party of China.
I’m not suggesting study bias, but I am suggesting that Chinese citizens’ social media and internet use is now so closely monitored by the CPP that it has a chilling effect on free speech, and this may have influenced the results even if they were told the study was anonymous.
Secondly, since Xi took power, according to that same report, he has “effectively sidelined functional and professional institutions of party and state”, in addition to removing term limits. These are all classic authoritarian strongman moves. The study goes on to point out that having an effective authoritarian as leader - one who has helped improve the lives of many Chinese citizens - is of course going to be popular. The old saying goes that a benevolent dictatorship is the best form of government, and that may be true in some regards, right up until the point it isn’t benevolent anymore. Which is more or less inevitable imo.
The study I’m referencing was an anonymous study conducted by Harvard between 2003 and 2016. It would strain credulity to suggest that the study’s participants all anonymously said that they love their government out of fear - firstly because they rated their government a lot lower in 2003 than they did in 2016, secondly because Harvard isn’t exactly in the pocket of the Communist Party of China.
I’m not suggesting study bias, but I am suggesting that Chinese citizens’ social media and internet use is now so closely monitored by the CPP that it has a chilling effect on free speech, and this may have influenced the results even if they were told the study was anonymous.
Secondly, since Xi took power, according to that same report, he has “effectively sidelined functional and professional institutions of party and state”, in addition to removing term limits. These are all classic authoritarian strongman moves. The study goes on to point out that having an effective authoritarian as leader - one who has helped improve the lives of many Chinese citizens - is of course going to be popular. The old saying goes that a benevolent dictatorship is the best form of government, and that may be true in some regards, right up until the point it isn’t benevolent anymore. Which is more or less inevitable imo.