This is mostly true for nationalistic American liberals. China is the opposing empire to America, while many see Japan as this "country uplifted by America." This attitude isn't new and isn't consciously held by most people that parrot it. Most don't know any better and many would accept the nuances if presented respectfully.
Empires occasionally do good when it serves their interests, while every country has serious issues they need to deal with. You can still oppose authoritarians or be a weeb without needing to ignore reality.
Unlike America where you get to choose between: genocide in Gaza and uhm… also genocide in Gaza.
The way Chinese elite keep themselves in power is different from the way American elites keep them selves in power, but in the end what does it matter to you. Or do you want America to bring democracy to China at the end of a riffle, or be racist against Chinese people and Culture because you don’t agree with their government?
Edit: for the people (purposely?) misreading my comment, nowhere do I excuse the actions of China. I just want to point out that this rhetoric of condemning the human rights abuses of geo-strategic rivals is a known strategy that has a body count counted in millions. And pointing at Gaza is not a whataboutism, it is to show that Americas deep care for the Uyghurs or Taiwan independence is purely about cynical power.
China’s treatment of Uyghurs is nowhere comparable to what the US and Israel are doing to Palestinians. And assuming that you live in the US, one of these crimes is committed under your name, the other is not.
China isn't forcibly relocating Muslims they find inconvenient, stealing their land, and eradicating their culture while calling it reeducation or anti-extremism?
And that is true. But some people in china making something and putting their hearts in it, does not mean it should be hated on because their government is evil. We shouldn't see the government and the people of a country as a singular thing.
Ffs, of course it is! The wins they do have were all done for self-serving reasons. They occasionally stumble onto the right side of international conflicts, just like America. They sometimes enact effective policies that America doesn't, but they often cause pain and death that no one can complain about. It's an authoritarian empire; of course it's awful!
It's biggest in America, as we're more involved in the Pacific. Other western countries side with us, but are less directly invested and gung-ho. The rest of the west is less likely to directly fight China or defend Japan.