But I definitely agree that there is the desire to be seen as “strong” (not weak?) to others; more specifically the international community. This is very community who may hold negative stereotypes related to Asians and masculinity that I alluded to above. I think the concept of 躺平 (lying flat) also comes into play as men who are a paradigm of Chinese masculinity would never give up like that; they would continue to 争斗 (struggle) to persevere.

I also think the decline in birth rate might be an issue. Perhaps the leadership espouse the unfounded belief that nurture can overcome nature in terms of sexual orientation. But this is merely speculation on my part.