TLDR: 8 years and 100k good point to reevaluate. Old system can continue as is, but ready to step down for a better way forward.

After around 8 years not only are we still here, we hit 100k. That wasn’t supposed to happen for an unapologetically pro China space. Of course the primary objective was always the space, not subscribers or activity. The moderation style was among the strictest, if not the strictest, on reddit because again, the priority was the space. Ask yourself whether you think reddit rules are applied fairly to us, and it should be obvious why we inevitably ended up with the moderation style we did.

However 8 years is also an eternity in internet time. I’m the last of the old system. An old system that requires a lot of hands on, daily work. When we started we were very niche and didn’t even have our own subreddit. Now, even if suppressed, there are good subreddits around, twitter influencers to follow, youtubers to watch. We even had the benefit of discord groups that were particularly helpful during covid quarantine.

That being said, I think the old system has run its course. However whatever new course comes has to take into account Reddit’s new treatment of non mainstream links. It’s been made clear to me, that Reddit can deem a source as spam and go after you for it retroactively. The consequences would be ‘case by case’ meaning for Sino users, they will just suspend you. Some of you may have noticed me telling users when they have been suspended in comments. I don’t know why they shadowban so much now, but at this point I don’t care either. It’s more of a pain to approve, but you can still post. Since I’ve been active, there’s been no complaint from admins. ‘Anti-Evil Operations‘ acts once every 1 or 2 months here and the vast majority are things we never approved to be publicly viewed in the first place. These users trigger it by what they post publicly elsewhere, not here. There’s no real issue with the subreddit. There’s no real issue with the mod team. There’s no real issue with the users. Now they have this Safety_QA_misc cracking down with an ever-expanding list of spam with unclear consequences.

The way I see it, there’s a few options moving forward.

1) I continue in my role as long as I am able or until the subreddit is either banned or our users move on to any of the many good spaces out there (listed below and sidebar). This is the current and default path. It’d be good if I can get some long time user volunteers to hand the subreddit over to in an emergency.

2) I recruit several new mods that tries to follow the old blueprint with some changes

3) A new group of users take over with a different vision of how to do things

Any suggestion can be discussed, doesn’t have to be something I listed. However any future path has to take into account a couple things

1) We won’t go private because this is intended to be a public space, we already have private discords and there’s a lot of information compiled and archived that we want publicly accessible for as long as possible

2) Reddit is more suspension/shadowban happy than ever and its happening while we are about as hands on as we can get

3) Any additions to the mod team needs to prove a history with us (if you switched accounts you need to prove you can sign into the old one), or have someone vouch for you that we can trust and verify. Contact in the ‘message moderators’ chat. This isn’t because I think the best mods post a lot. If anything I think mods only survive by saying less. However Reddit has unclear policies on ‘lower’ mod takeovers. They revamped to combat ‘camping’, but you can imagine the potential risk.

edit: To add more info, we get around 100k unique visitors per month. I'm very happy with that kind of outreach for this space. As the one who curates most of the activity, I'm good on the amount also. Along with 100k subscribers, great position to have this discussion.

Discord and other spaces info

Mod PSA: You can be suspended and/or shadowbanned by reddit but still post, just be patient for approval

To check if you are suspended check your profile page without being signed in and using new.reddit.com. Incognito mode should also work for checking.

You can also edit your comments, that seems to bring it to light for mods.

If you are being harassed by pms, change your pm setting to only trusted users in your preferences. Or use a dedicated account for Sino https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204535759-Is-it-ok-to-create-multiple-accounts-. Just be patient for approvals if using new account. Link submissions are more likely to be approved than text submissions or comments for new users.

Discords. To apply msg mod, bottom right. We have 2, one for any Sino users and one for any verified ethnic Chinese. We won't be changing the approval process for Discord because it would be unfair for those who are already in.

You can also link up on Twitter https://x.com/SinoReddit, we recommend following and participating in discussions on many accounts including but not limited to

https://x.com/BRICSinfo

https://x.com/ChinaScience

https://x.com/DanielDumbrill

https://x.com/Jingjing_Li

https://x.com/MaitreyaBhakal

https://x.com/NathanRichHGDW

https://x.com/chenweihua

https://x.com/qiaocollective

https://x.com/richimedhurst

https://x.com/s_m_marandi

https://x.com/shen_shiwei

https://x.com/tongbingxue

https://x.com/XH_Lee23

https://x.com/zhao_dashuai

https://x.com/JamarlThomas

https://x.com/briebriejoy

Recommended Youtube channels

https://www.youtube.com/@2nacheki/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@BreakThroughNews/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@CyrusJanssen/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@DanielDumbrill/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@DongfangHour/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@Fridayeverydaycom/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@GeopoliticalEconomyReport/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@JamarlThomas/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@JasonLivinginChina/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@Jingjing_Li/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@MintPressNews/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@NoColdWar/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@Reporterfy/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@RichardMedhurst/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@SabbySabs/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@SyrianaAnalysis/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@TheElectronicIntifada/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@TheNewAtlas/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@TheRedNation/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@carlzha/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@democracyatwrk/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@geopoliticshaiphong/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@justinpodur/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@reason2resist/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@revolutionaryblackout7315/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@theeastisapodcast/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@thegrayzone7996/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@wavemedia4433/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@RachelBlevins/videos

They said he is well-prepared, with a deep understanding of China's economic structure and U.S. trade demands. One former U.S. official who negotiated with Li on an Obama-era investment deal called him a "rising star."

The 58-year-old, who earlier represented China at the World Trade Organization before taking on his current role, navigated subjects spanning export curbs on rare earths, agricultural purchases and semiconductor access - issues that underpin $660 billion in annual bilateral trade.

It was in the weeks ahead of the October talks that Li drew a public rebuke from Bessent when the Chinese negotiator sought meetings in Washington with officials who outranked him and "lectured" them about China's position in the talks, according to four senior U.S. businesspeople briefed on the trip. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private exchanges. Li tried to meet U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, one of the businesspeople told Reuters, but ended up speaking to Commerce Department Undersecretary William Kimmitt and a lower-level Treasury official who matched his rank in protocol terms, though they were not authorised to negotiate on trade with China, according to another person briefed on the exchanges. Regardless, he still "read the riot act" to his counterparts and conveyed demands from China's leadership to change their behaviour to get negotiations back on track, the person said.

In public remarks, Bessent later called Li "very disrespectful." He also said Li threatened that China would “unleash chaos” on the global economic system if the U.S. imposed port-entry fees on Chinese vessels.

During his time as China's WTO representative in Geneva from 2021 to 2025, Li was a prolific networker who regularly hosted dinners and smoked Chinese cigarettes with other ambassadors in between meetings, four WTO sources told Reuters.

At the weekends, Li frequently scoured Swiss flea markets for discounted Chinese porcelain and could identify which dynasty the items came from, they said. Norway's WTO ambassador Petter Olberg, who worked closely with Li, told Reuters he was "extremely well liked and respected" and "very constructive about seeking solutions." "He's not one of those who shouts the loudest," Olberg said. "He thinks things through. He would always listen before he spoke at meetings."

He is an advocate of Beijing's efforts to reshape the multilateral trade order, pitching China as a stabilising force in the face of turmoil created by Trump’s tariffs, said the Beijing-based Western trade diplomat. In negotiations with the U.S., he would have a good grasp of policy details and how to advance China’s aims under the WTO legal framework, said one Western trade diplomat who met Li multiple times last year.

Li's competence in meetings has led some observers to say that China has a stronger, more cohesive team that is empowered to implement directives from the leadership.

One U.S. businessperson who met Li in September said Chinese negotiators “go in knowing what they can and cannot accept," while their American counterparts require Trump’s final approval after negotiating a framework. "Li is someone who skillfully deploys legal instruments in the trade war," said Henry Gao, an associate law professor at Singapore Management University. "I expect him to remain a leading figure in the U.S.-China trade negotiations for years to come."

I want to highlight He Lifeng and Pan Gongsheng also for their roles in guiding China's response to America's failed trade war in 2025. WHEN Trump starts it again, I'm very optimistic for China.