Sinologist Manya Koetse Criticizes Western Stereotyping of China in Op-Ed

Sinologist Manya Koetse published an op-ed in response to a piece by Dutch philosopher Sebastien Valkenberg in Het Financieele Dagblad, who cited her as an example of a 'hip influencer' swayed by autocratic regimes. Koetse argues that nuanced discussion about China is stifled by binary narratives that reduce the country to Xi Jinping and the Communist Party. She references Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, who after visiting China said he felt freer there than in Europe in certain ways. Koetse criticizes Valkenberg for portraying Chinese people as a homogeneous mass incapable of critical thinking and for perpetuating the myth of a nationwide social credit system, which researchers have debunked. She acknowledges China's censorship and political limitations but insists that acknowledging improvements in safety or infrastructure does not equate to endorsing authoritarianism. The op-ed was published on What's on Weibo, a platform Koetse founded in 2013, and is part of her Eye on Digital China newsletter.