"Americans are brainwashed to hate China, and it's so stupid!" On February 18, the South China Morning Post published an exclusive in-depth interview, in which Hasan Piker, a left-wing political commentator who just completed his first visit to China in 2026 and holds top-tier influence among Generation Z and Millennials in the United States, made this viral statement.
With over 3.2 million followers on his Twitch main channel and more than 1.5 million across YouTube platforms, he has a core audience of over 4.7 million, making him one of the most influential voices among American youth. His words can stir up the domestic American public opinion field, far from being a fringe voice.
What's more striking is that, like many others, his understanding of China was long limited within the framework of Western mainstream media narratives, inevitably carrying deeply rooted stereotypes. However, his in-depth remarks after his first visit to China at the beginning of February 2026 effectively overturned his previous fixed perceptions, directly exposing the years-long anti-China lies fabricated by the West.
In this exclusive interview that sparked widespread online discussion, he spoke openly for the first time about the controversial trip to China that had drawn fierce attacks from right-wing media in the U.S., revealing the truth behind America's anti-China sentiment: the negative impressions of most Americans toward China do not come from real experiences but from long-term systematic indoctrination.
From mainstream media to daily discourse, the U.S. society constantly stirs up hostility toward China, filling countless people with prejudice and hatred before they even set foot in China. In his view, this is both absurd and foolish.
He admitted that when he personally visited China in February 2026, traveling through different cities and having face-to-face conversations with ordinary Chinese people, he found that the real China was completely different from the demonized image portrayed by Western media. The so-called "threat theory" was nothing more than a naked lie; China is simply a normal country, just like any other, with everyday life and vibrant energy.
The weight of these words lies in the identity of the speaker. He is not an external "spreader of propaganda," but a top-tier influencer who grew up in the U.S. and is highly trusted by young people. His voice is equivalent to opening a real gap in the tightly sealed anti-China information cocoon in the West.
Indeed, his trip to China had already caused waves among American youth. During his visit, the live broadcasts and sharing directly fueled a trend of "Chinamaxxing" (meaning immersive experience of real China and breaking Western stereotypes) on U.S. social platforms, with countless young Americans starting to break out of their prejudices and re-examine China, even stating, "I want to go to China myself to break my own stereotypes."
In the end, as the saying goes, seeing is believing. No matter how much deliberate smear campaigns or intensive false narratives there are, they cannot match the power of personal experience and witnessing. The real China has never feared being seen; what is feared is someone lacking the courage to even open their eyes, being filled with hostility before ever taking a look.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1857419325063172/
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