I agree with this take, but I'm not sure how it could have come across any other way.

Something I struggle with is how, as a foreigner, we can be taken seriously on political topics. If we speak from the context of living in modern China and sharing our lived experiences of the oppression we see right outside the window, we are accused of not having a deep understanding of Chinese culture and history. But foreigners like Pottinger who try to take a more cerebral path and root their commentary in aspects of Chinese culture and history are accused of being out of touch with the youth of today. It's a no win situation.

Personally I think if Americans want to use Chinese language communications to reach out to a non-elite audience, better to use slang and local pronunciation, and talk about working class problems. Unfortunately that sort of dialog is tough to establish from outside the country - it's already hard enough for locals to speak candidly on sensitive topics due to domestic censorship. So we are back at either producing highbrow content for elites, i.e. standard political theater, or not engaging in politics at all. And so the Party gets what they want either way.