I'm constantly seeing westerners whine about Chinese human rights violations while simultaneously ignoring the HR violations occurring everywhere else, especially in the west. American cops routinely kill people. Yet, how many people have died in Hong Kong because of their protests? The notion that China lacks 'proper civil society' is in my mind rooted in a western sense of orientalism and good old fashioned racism.…
PRC does lack proper civil society, and it all started with Mao and his cultural revolution. Compare PRC and Taiwan the difference is night and day in their respective governments' respect for human rights. It has nothing to do with orientalism and everything to do with authoritarianism.