Well, as much as I don't agree with them, these Zhi Rens probably still number in the tens of millions, mostly among folks who work in the financial industry, education, some property sectors, and the children of officials who get sidelined by Xi. They are also among the commentators of NetEast News (163), Douban, etc. Ultimately, they are a political force that exist in China, and their presence is particularly strong in Shanghai, Beijing (of course, outside the courtyards of CPC compounds), and Hong Kong. What is incredibly sad is that these just happen to be the people the Chinese government long hope to be the consumers would could supercharge the Chinese economy. However, when these people earned certain privileges and education in the West, they started to see their privileged status and the CCP's leadership (monopoly of power) as a zero sum game both materially and culturally, so they resorted to identity politics by using their supposed relative "whiteness" to demonstrate why their voice should be above the rest of China, as if they are they only ones who understands modernization. Now I am talking about the Zhi Rens born after 1980 who never lived through hardships, so there is a huge dose of neoliberal idealism in their thinkings. Many of them are indeed very productive and privileged members of society, so no wonder they louder voices on Douyin and Weibo their Joe average Chinese migrant workers or peasants.
However, another group of more hardened Zhi Rens were folks who were victims of Cultural Revolution, Tiananmen, etc., or simply families of officials who lost in bureaucratic power struggles. To them, kissing the West's ass is the only way to survive.
As with Hong Kong, the 1984 deal was arguably not favorable to China as Beijing had little influence over HK's education, national security, and media regulations. Thus, kids were brought up with a strong nostalgia for the British Empire and hatred toward the CCP plus "uncivilized" mainlanders. The 2003 protests over Article 23 demonstrated how incapable Beijing was in directly interfering in Hong Kong's affairs. When the 2019 protest hit, I was expecting a lengthy battle that would last for years (think Northern Ireland), while Beijing would simply just let side on the sideline and let the mobs make fools out of themselves. In other words, the more violent the blackshirts get, the better it would be for Beijing. Ultimately, Xi's faction didn't get along with the HK real-estate elites anyway, so letting HK burn would be a perfect divide and rule strategy. What I did not expect was Xi launching a blitzkrieg (2020 National Security Law) following Covid and pretty much gave the Sino-British Joint Declaration a huge middle finger. He got balls, but I am still divided over whether this was the best approach.
As with Shanghai, it is where China builds its most advanced warships for the PLA Navy, as well as the birthplace of the CCP. However, what is unique is that within such as important financial and industrial capital, you got an urban elite who worship the West to the point where they want to overthrow the Party State. Take the November 2022 White Paper Movement for example, Shanghai is the only city where protesters shouted "CCP step down, Xi Jinping step down." For the CCP, Shanghai remain the only protest site where MANY red lines were crossed. Comparatively, protesters at other cities only called for lifting of the zero covid policy (of which I also against) and greater freedom of speech (as should be protected by the PRC Constitution). Thus, what I am saying is that while Shanghai is China's most important city, it does have its own share of national security hazard since those white worshipping middle class/elites live so close to industries vital to China's long term national security and competitiveness.
