As far as I know (and I’ve looked), the only actual evidence of his fate is that, at the end of the video, he is ushered off the street by civilians in streetwear. From there, people seem to make conclusions based on an overall impression of the Chinese government as comically evil, rather than any specific or credible evidence (or indeed any evidence at all) related to this guy in particular.
Which is somewhat understandable, don’t get me wrong – no one investigates everything they hear. We try to gauge the overall picture and then, once we’re convinced (rightly or wrongly), we tend to accept or reject new information on the basis of that picture. Everyone does this. I do it. That’s why US propaganda is so effective. It works by sheer volume and repetition. Once that “comically evil Chinese government” picture is established, people believe new details consistent with it. And if you have a compliant media, that picture may never be challenged enough to dislodge it. Some of the stories are finally starting to collapse now – not even the US state department claims there was a genocide in Xinjiang anymore, for example – but it will take a while for that to ripple out to people.
As far as I know (and I’ve looked), the only actual evidence of his fate is that, at the end of the video, he is ushered off the street by civilians in streetwear. From there, people seem to make conclusions based on an overall impression of the Chinese government as comically evil, rather than any specific or credible evidence (or indeed any evidence at all) related to this guy in particular.
Which is somewhat understandable, don’t get me wrong – no one investigates everything they hear. We try to gauge the overall picture and then, once we’re convinced (rightly or wrongly), we tend to accept or reject new information on the basis of that picture. Everyone does this. I do it. That’s why US propaganda is so effective. It works by sheer volume and repetition. Once that “comically evil Chinese government” picture is established, people believe new details consistent with it. And if you have a compliant media, that picture may never be challenged enough to dislodge it. Some of the stories are finally starting to collapse now – not even the US state department claims there was a genocide in Xinjiang anymore, for example – but it will take a while for that to ripple out to people.