I think in large part it may because people don’t consciously think about the difference between…

1. US government officials or other others deeply embedded in the US power structure criticizing China for its treatment of Uyghurs and the massive amount of propaganda and hypocrisy involved with that.

2. The average leftist saying “yah, it seems like from what I can tell China is not treating the Uyghurs humanely” while being under no delusions about both the propaganda and motives involved in most of the information they get and also about the general brutality of the US government.

Coming back at category 2 with “but whattabout the US?” doesn’t add anything to the conversation, the vast majority of category 2 agrees with these criticisms of the US.

Great answer thank you!

It just seems like what defines China at this point is far better described as authoritarianism than a label like communism or capitalism. Same goes with the US. I mean… at what point does it matter how power is legitimized in a system of governance if in practice the results are the elite owning and deciding everything?

If I am way off the mark, please feel free to educate me with some links to stuff I can read, I am not trying to force a point I am trying to work through these ideas myself!

Would this actually even make sense though? Would a communist uprising in India actually create a government that embraced China? I mean… is China really communist at this point?