Frankly, I'm astonished by the sheer ignorance displayed by senior Trump administration officials and so-called China watchers on X (like Noah Smith) regarding China.
Whether it's the baffling attribution of rare earth controls to the MSS (which only handles domestic security, akin to the FBI), the exaggerated portrayal of Li Chenggang's routine job reassignment, or the anti-corruption investigations targeting PLA leadership, their level of understanding seems indistinguishable from that of ordinary MAGAs who spend their free time scrolling through far-right conspiracy theories on X.