Let us start by looking at what is happening with young people in Europe right now. In early 2026, a major study by the European Council on Foreign Relations identified a trend it called “Chinamaxxing.” The researchers found that many 18- to 24-year-olds are losing trust in the United States; only about 16 percent of people in the European Union still see the U.S. in a clearly positive way.
At the same time, some of these young people have begun to see China as an attractive alternative. The enormous reason for this change is where these young adults get their news. Because of how popular TikTok has been, and the fact that it was tied to the Chinese government for so long, millions of messages have been shared that only show a very kind and happy version of life in China. often through short videos and online posts that show clean cities, fast trains, and apparent social order—but rarely show the extreme control political reality behind that image.
What many of these young viewers do not see is what everyday life under the Chinese Communist Party actually feels like. A Western youth, used to free speech, private phones, and an uncensored internet, would likely be horrified to discover how deeply the CCP can reach into a person’s daily life: what they read, say, buy, and where they go. Human rights reports describe a system where criticizing the government, supporting independent labor groups, or even sharing the wrong article online can lead to harassment, job loss, detention, or, in some cases, prison.
Under CCP rule, online spaces are heavily censored. The government’s “Great Firewall” blocks many foreign news sites and social media platforms, while domestic platforms are required by law to delete content that crosses political “red lines.” Posts about topics such as Tiananmen Square, Tibet, Xinjiang, or criticism of top leaders can vanish within minutes, and the people who posted them may receive police visits or be summoned for questioning. Instead of an open marketplace of ideas, the internet becomes a carefully managed space where the ruling party decides what can be seen and what must be erased.
This control extends from the screen into nearly every corner of life. Phone numbers, bank accounts, travel bookings, and social media accounts are often linked to a citizen’s real identity, making it much easier for authorities to track people throughout their daily routines. Cameras with facial-recognition technology monitor streets, subway stations, and even some classrooms, while various local “social credit” experiments add or subtract points based on behavior the state defines as “trustworthy” or “untrustworthy.” Buying certain books, donating to the wrong cause, or posting the wrong comment can lower a person’s score, making it harder to travel, get loans, or access other opportunities. For someone growing up in a Western democracy, the idea that your phone and online life could be used this way—to constantly rank and judge you—would be like being in jail.
When we talk to our own young people about China, we have to be honest about both sides. China is a large, important country, and it is also governed by an authoritarian party that fears open criticism, treats independent thinking as a threat, and uses modern tools to watch over its citizens in ways that would shock most people raised in free societies. Before any of our youth decide that “Chinamaxxing” is the answer to their frustrations with the West, they deserve to understand what life under the CCP actually looks like for the people who cannot simply log off and leave.
Sources
European Council on Foreign Relations. (2026). Chinamaxxing: Beijing’s new source of soft power. https://ecfr.eu
Freedom House. (2023). Freedom on the net 2023. https://freedomhouse.org
Human Rights Watch. (2024). World report 2024. https://www.hrw.org
U.S. Department of State. (2023). 2023 country reports on human rights practices. https://www.state.gov