Slop.

A lot of discussions about the TS incident gets bogged in what happened and what didn't happen and so on. But I think something a lot of communists and socialists (even on this site) need to focus on is why the Chinese government "censors" the incident.

The fact is the Chinese government is pretty open about what happened. They talk about the people who were killed surrounding the square, both students/protestors and security forces. What they don't like is the western propaganda surrounding the incident and the lies surrounding it that have arisen organically from that propaganda in the west. See, in China you are not permitted to lie to the public about other people, the government, history, companies, and so on. And they are sensitive to certain topics because they are such common lies used to defame China. They will not stand for the defamation especially on platforms they control and nor should they.

Think of it like this, whenever China is doing well or something is going on with China, oop, here we go: pictures of the square and the student protestors or tank-guy/bag-man. When Shinzo Abe was offed by the doohickey, were there posts on Reddit about Nanjing? When Germany sent tanks to Ukraine do we see images on /r/pics about Dachau? No, of course not. Only China and Iran get this treatment.

Some ill-intentioned westerners will go on Xiaohongshu and post about TS and get banned and decry that they were censored, oh no! "I ran into my neighbor's house and shit on the living room floor and he kicked me out! I'm being oppressed!" China does not want these people stinking up the place. Most Americans in these spaces don't want these people stinking up the place. Instead they are sent packing back to their house, western social media, where the floor is already covered in shit so they can pretend like they are privileged to sit in it and enjoy the smell.

I'm not even here to claim this is a psy-op because it does not need to be, this lashing out at China whenever they are experiencing growth and openness is likely purely organic. I think there is a deep sadness in the heart of the west - at the unnecessary struggle daily life can be for the average person. This is doubly true for Americans. We have already seen how emotional people are getting to see how well the Chinese are doing on average. The lament that life doesn't have to be so hard. The realization they have been lied to. It is jarring to the psyche to have a fundamental element of your worldview reversed overnight. There is almost a grieving process at all the potential you lost by believing and living the lie. Sadness is a stage, as is anger. For most westerners they never move past denial.