I’ve noticed a backlash against people who are said to be “glorifying” China. To be frank, I don’t see many people glorifying China. What I see is people pushing back — rightly — against Western imperial privilege. I’ll share a bit of my own journey to give some perspective. Over the last few years, as I've been researching, writing, and increasingly engaging in debates about China’s role in the global economy, I've noticed a striking pattern: demonising China is entirely acceptable. Accusations of technology theft, industrial overcapacity, and oppressive authoritarianism are hurled at China with little nuance or context. It is commonplace — almost taken for granted — to hold the view that China’s rise is dangerous. Having spent much of my career working on development issues in the Global South, the tone of these critiques feels familiar. They echo imperial privilege, neocolonial anxiety, and a deep unwillingness in the West to concede political or economic power to developing countries. China’s ascent is the first real test of whether the West can accept that a major developing nation is successfully pursuing sovereign development on its own terms. So far, the West is failing that test. So no — people like myself aren’t glorifying China. In the face of the West’s unapologetic demonisation of China, we’re simply trying to remind others that it isn’t a bad thing when a developing country actually develops.