To be fair that stereotype was actually true the Geeat Wall was built to prevent tech transfer to nomads. Who would get advanced Chinese tech and philosophies then invade and conquer China. The Chi Coms corrupting said stereotype for thiet own insidious ends is irrelevant to it being the reality for millinea. Remeber that barring the last two centuries or so that China as an entity had very much been among the most advanced societies on Earth and alot of times THE most advanced. You can't really judge all of Chinese history on Mao's current retardation in think Karl Marx was anything other then a lazy,degenerate,and,worthless bum of a man.
That's Chinese
cultural arrogance, and it's a flaw they've had ever since they were a civilizational "top dog". Ancient art works of theirs had anyone and everyone
but Chinese people ("barbarians" and "foreign devils") look like Gollum stereotypes, right down to rounder eyes being made to look demonic in some way (the statues and paintings are hilarious).
The problem is that they're not "top dog" or even in the
top five anymore, and they haven't been for
centuries. When they had their proverbial teeth kicked in
twice during the Opium Wars, it should've been a major wake up call; same with the Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the 20th.
The sane/smart members of their government and civilization went "oh shit!", realized this, and made plans to form what'd eventually become Taiwan (without the moving to an island problem) if the capital fell (during the Boxer Rebellion); other smart members of the regional/provincial governments actually
assisted the allied nations by controlling the telegraph network at key points, defying the Dowager Empress, and keeping their people alive/safe (and killing/arresting the Boxers they were supposed to help), because they understood the reality of the situation (unlike the DE, who tried to play off both sides and thought she was smarter than she actually was).
Then the forerunners of the CCP snaked their way into power, Taiwan happened after the civil wars, conflicts, and WW2, and they simply used and exacerbated that arrogance until it corrupted
everything; from civilian life to business and goods.
Regardless of their history or why they have such arrogance, what matters is the here and now. The world moved on past them,
surpassed them, and they still think they're in the past just because they can thieve, deceive, mass produce crap, and bluster.
And, ironically, in doing so they've become the same barbarian stereotype they've railed against in the past.
Frankly, China needs to be bitchslapped and made to realize their place in the world isn't a top dog like how the British Empire was in the past, how the Soviet Union and America was and is respectively.
They're a second-rate power at best, on a good day, when it isn't snowing in Hell.
The issue with this is although the PRC isn't yet Tyson they are definitely a strong country say a Mayweather. A solidly powerful middle weight who's trying to compete with heavyweights,so basically they are most definitely a threat that has to be taken seriously. Even if they don't need to be taken as seriously as they personally believe if that makes sense.
I used the scrawny kid analogy for a reason: Their economy is a propped up pyramid scheme barely holding on, massive civil unrest is brewing underneath the surface, their military is a joke and their hardware is laughed at as being "cheap, Chinese crap" for many reasons, and their buildings and infrastructure are literally falling down over their heads.
Let's not forget their land has become so polluted because of their cultural arrogance and stupidity that it's all expies from post-apocalyptic films like Mad Max.
Although, the Mayweather thing is a little true: They're a scrawny kid that
looks like Mayweather. They're still a scrawny kid, though.