China Criticism on Global Social Media Has Clearly Cooled
— From Anger to Calculation

Anyone who has been consistently observing global social media will have sensed a certain unease recently.

The intensity of “China criticism,” once so overwhelming, has unmistakably declined.

This is not because China’s problems have been solved. It is not because China has been “forgiven.” And it is certainly not because the world has become lenient toward China.

What has changed is something else entirely: the phase of the discourse itself has shifted.

The Peak of China Criticism

From roughly 2019 to 2022, China criticism functioned as a kind of common language on global social media—especially in the English-speaking world.

• Hong Kong’s National Security Law
• The Uyghur issue in Xinjiang
• China’s early COVID-19 response
• The U.S.–China confrontation and the technology war

During this period, China was an exceptionally easy “villain” to talk about.

Anger, condemnation, and moral outrage spread easily and aligned perfectly with platform algorithms.

But that state of high temperature was never going to last.

What Has Changed?

On today’s global social media, China is no longer the top priority target of collective anger.

The reason is simple. The world is now confronting other realities:

• The normalization of war
• Inflation and rising costs of living
• Political instability within many countries

Under these conditions, there is little capacity to continue morally condemning China alone.

The focus has shifted from “Should we be angry?” to “How should we deal with it?”

Criticism Has Not Disappeared
It Has Turned into Calculation

Current discussions about China revolve around questions such as:

• Is China’s economy truly slowing down?
• Is decoupling realistic?
• How far has technological self-reliance progressed?
• Can the West actually sever ties with China—or not?

The emotional fervor of the past is gone.

What remains is cold, sometimes ruthless, calculation of interests.

This does not mean the situation has become favorable for China. If anything, the opposite is true.

China has moved from being an object of outrage to an object of appraisal.

That represents a more realistic—and often harsher—phase.

Why Blatant “China-Bashing” Is Now Distrusted

Another important shift has taken place.

On global social media, emotionally driven attacks on China are increasingly viewed with suspicion.

• Blaming China for everything
• Threat narratives lacking evidence
• Simplistic good-versus-evil binaries

Such content is often seen as crude, sensationalist, or propagandistic.

The world has moved beyond chasing easily identifiable villains.

China’s Effort to Position Itself as a Cooperative Actor

In recent years, China has clearly toned down overt confrontation and emphasized:

• Multilateralism
• International cooperation
• Respect for rules

What matters here is not sincerity.

What matters is the sustained presentation of itself as “not a disruptor of international order.”

In today’s international climate, that posture alone carries weight.

The world is not looking for passionate righteousness, but for manageability.

Reframing Pollution and Environmental Issues

For a long time, China symbolized air pollution and environmental degradation.

Now, however, it emphasizes:

• Improved urban air quality
• Expansion of renewable energy
• Leadership in EVs and battery industries

This builds the image of a major power that is at least engaging with environmental issues.

Perfection is not required.

Occupying the position of “not indifferent” is enough to soften criticism.

Why Xi Jinping’s Statements Sound “Reasonable”

On the international stage, Xi Jinping’s remarks tend to be:

• Low-toned
• Emotionally restrained
• Focused on stability, continuity, and multilateral cooperation

When placed alongside Trump-style rhetoric, this creates a strange inversion:

China’s leader appears relatively rational.

This is not because China has become democratic. It is because China skillfully benefits from the abnormality of the comparison.

Climate Policy as Strategy, Not Altruism

China’s climate initiatives are less about morality and more about rational strategy.

• Renewables as industrial competitiveness
• Climate policy as a diplomatic card
• Stepping forward when the U.S. steps back

This is not “China saving the planet,” but China performing the role of a responsible great power.

That performance plays well on the international stage.

The Refined Presentation of Disaster and Humanitarian Aid

China’s response to countries hit by disasters—earthquakes, floods, conflicts—has also changed.

• Rapid assistance
• Low political visibility
• Restrained self-promotion

Instead of “aid as advertisement,” China now stages quiet involvement.

This allows it to remain visible not as a threat, but as a necessary presence.

Why China Is Still Not Fully Trusted

Authoritarian governance, human rights issues, and information control have not disappeared.

But the world has moved past consuming these issues as pure outrage.

China is no longer a punching bag—it is being priced.

That is a colder and more demanding evaluation phase.

Japan Alone Has Failed to Update Its Phase

This shift is strikingly under-shared in Japanese-language social media.

In Japan, the following still dominate:

• Anti-China sentiment frozen in 2019
• Translated U.S. right-wing narratives
• The illusion that “anti-China equals intellectual”

As a result, China—already under strategic calculation globally—is still framed primarily as an object of anger in Japan.

Repetition, Not Renewal

Much of Japan’s China criticism consists of:

• Recycled outrage
• Delayed imports of foreign discourse
• A lack of updated analysis

The problem is not that criticism is wrong.

The problem is that the world has moved on while Japan remains stuck.

What Japan Really Needs to Face

The issue Japan must confront is not China itself.

It is whether Japan can recognize that the global phase has changed.

Anger is easy to understand. Calculation is what moves reality.

This article does not assess the merits of individual policies; rather, it offers an analysis based on observations of shifts in international discourse and the broader tone of social media.

Conclusion: What Has Cooled Is Not Justice

What has cooled on global social media is not criticism of China.

What has cooled is the politics of consuming anger.

China has understood this and learned how not to provoke outrage.

This is neither endorsement nor absolution.

It simply means the world and China have entered a phase of mutual adjustment.

Anger fades quickly. Calculation endures.

The world is already there.