An excellent Substack called Austrian China examines China from an Austrian School of Economics perspective, featuring multiple contributors, including an American economist, Scott, who has lived in China for many years.
My discussion with Scott largely centres on their Top Ten Myths About China series of articles.
Austrian China
It’s bizarre how many self-proclaimed ‘awake’ or ‘red-pilled’ types—supposedly sharp on critical thinking—keep parroting myths that refuse to die out like the dodo.
I put it down to successful Western propaganda.
- Are Chinese people oppressed?
- Does the Chinese government control every aspect of life?
- Are property rights nonexistent in China?
- Does China have a social credit score?
- Did China have the worst COVID lockdowns?
It’s staggering how many—who have never been to China—not only say ‘yes’ to all of the above but also concoct fictional stories about China, fuelled by intelligence-backed establishment media.
An Australian author on four false Western assumptions about China:https://t.co/wgpJnieoxy pic.twitter.com/hVuz9SoedB
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) November 24, 2021
Cracking this nut isn’t easy and will take ages.
But it will be cracked.
Eventually.
🎙️ Podcast episode
Scott, who lives in Shanghai, broke apart some common claims and explained why they're nonsense.
To be clear, neither Scott nor I am backed by Chinese interests. It’s absurd that I even need to write this, but here we are.
