I know that it’s Chinese and it translates roughly as “white/Western left.” Looking it up on the Chinese wiki, Google translate gives me… well, this:

It is used to describe people who support policies such as the abolition of the death penalty , [ 3 ] animal protection , environmental protection , body equality , skin equality , LGBT , feminism , vegetarianism , marijuana decriminalization , euthanasia , abortion and immigration , that is, people with cultural leftist ideas in the European and American world.

This paints baizuo as something akin to American conservative terms like “woke” or “SJW.” On the other hand, I’ve seen baizuo on Hexbear a few times, but in those contexts it seemed to mean something closer to “succdem” or “Western chauvinist” rather than the definition above. Obviously, a term used to insult feminists, LGBT people, and environmentalists would be incredibly out of place on this site, hence why I’m asking about it rather than taking a machine-translated Wiki article at face value.

  • xiaohongshu [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    20·
    4 hours ago

    Baizuo is definitely a term that I’ve seen widely used on leftist circles on Chinese internet. And when I say Chinese leftists, a large portion of them are the nationalistic, anti-LGBT people who really hate American and Western imperialism. These are the type of people who are obsessed with geopolitics. Most normal Chinese people don’t care about politics at all (and a reminder that most normal people don’t obsess about the same shit we’re obsessed about here).

    I am currently actively avoiding Chinese internet. Since Trump won, my bilibili feed has been filled with videos with millions of views talking about how Trump is finally going to take on the “woke movement” (觉醒运动), the weird obsession with Elon Musk (have you seen that AI video of Musk vs the court eunuchs with millions of views?), people who really hate Biden and how he deserved to lose, and people who think Trump is a comrade who will help take down the US empire.

    American politics is like an entertainment in China right now and the diversity of opinions of it is a complete mess. There are some good analyses for sure but also many that are no different than a reactionary screed.

    • bdonvrAEnglish
      5·
      2 hours ago

      Trump is a comrade who will help take down the US empire.

      Comrade? No. Take down the US empire? Maybe lmao

      • xiaohongshu [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
        9·
        4 hours ago

        I mean, Tesla is still the best selling pure EV in China (~500k sold from Q1-3 so far, a comparable number to the US) but it might get overtaken by BYD soon (and already massively outcompeted if you take into account the lower priced hybrids). There really is a weird obsession with Elon Musk that I cannot explain lol.

        And this makes the whole DOGE cost cutting thing even more absurd because if the US goes into recession, the demand for Teslas in both countries will certainly plunge, and Elon would have effectively killed his own business. Would have been funny if not for the fact that millions of people will also lose their jobs because they let this idiot dictate the fiscal policy.

        • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
          2·
          1 hour ago

          And this makes the whole DOGE cost cutting thing even more absurd because if the US goes into recession, the demand for Teslas in both countries will certainly plunge, and Elon would have effectively killed his own business. Would have been funny if not for the fact that millions of people will also lose their jobs because they let this idiot dictate the fiscal policy.

          Elon won’t be dictating policy, he’ll be dictating who in government gets purged. The job he’s angling for is to be the one to determine who goes and who stays.

          He’ll determine who survives to dictate policy.

          You know how when a company wants to save money and it sacks 60% of the workforce? That’s what Musk wants to be in charge of doing to the US government and all of its agencies.

    • SadArtemis [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
      8·
      4 hours ago

      Not Chinese (nationality) but there are gay, trans, internationalist people who love geopolitics, maps, etc!!! Dozens of us!!! (Actually far more than dozens, it’s more common than you’d think)

      • xiaohongshu [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
        10·
        4 hours ago

        Yes there are pockets of us like in Hexbear but if you go out and talk to normal people about why Stalin did nothing wrong, they’ll look at you like some crazy conspiracy theorists lol

        • miz [any, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
          1·
          23 minutes ago

          if you go out and talk to normal people about why Stalin did nothing wrong, they’ll look at you like some crazy conspiracy theorists lol

          shit I’d better make a different plan for my upcoming visit to China

          • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
            2·
            2 minutes ago

            From my understanding, most Chinese people, like most people elsewhere, aren’t really political, and don’t really want to get involved in long discussions about politics. The “I just want to grill” mentality is universal.

    • Lussy [any, hy/hym]@hexbear.netEnglish
      3·
      3 hours ago

      leftist circles on Chinese internet. And when I say Chinese leftists, a large portion of them are the nationalistic, anti-LGBT people who really hate American and Western imperialism

      So, like, nazbol except they’re most of the Chinese left? Is that what you’re saying?