After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made

by Ben Rhodes

But I sensed a continued internal conflict within Bao Pu. He preferred democracy but was uncomfortable oversimplifying what has happened in an enormous and ancient country like China. He recognized the achievement of the Party but thought they had stumbled into their current position by being in control at the right time. He opposed identity politics but was plainly proud of his Chinese identity. He rejected the grievance-filled nationalism of the Party, but he clearly harbored some of the same grievances. And despite his belief that Tiananmen was an accident of history, doomed to fail, Bao Pu had spent much of his life trying to fight against this whitewashing.