I keep running into “China experts” I remember my college days that I need to go to school library for China news on WSJ. I usually need to flip to page 12 before finding a sliver of news. Today every piece of news has a China angle. And, you find China experts / analysts everywhere. Next time you meet a China expert or read from a China expert ask these questions - have they met the subject that they are analyzing? I found them usually have never met the person they are analyzing, not even someone in the category of the person they are analyzing - how they build their knowledge and expertise? Many of these ppl done it by reading books, papers by other “experts”, news articles …. By reading, not by practicing. Most of them have never been in business in China, forget about in politics in China - Who do they know? Many of these “experts” only are able to met ppl at the periphery of power in China, if even that. Also, I question their ability to qualify the info they received. CCP has installed an atmosphere of fear for Chinese to share information w foreigners. I found western academia and think tanks are full of these theorists. They form a cohort and fend for one another. Patting one another on the back, writing blurbs for one another’s books, interviewing one another to promote one other…. It’s a business. It’s a career Garbage in garbage out. Fanciful theories leads to terrible decisions.