It's not the best and the brightest who are lying flat, but those who lost the rat race.

All things considered, most Chinese would prefer to stay in China, and if you're rich there you've got it made.

By all accounts, you do not get rich in china by work. I work with the most talented Chinese scientists and none of them expects to be wealthy at home, the best hope to be what would be middle class in the US.

Unless they manage to get to the US they return, because they would not be safe from harassment anywhere else.

Scientists in most fields, sure, but that's the case anywhere. If you happen to be an AI expert though, pay at top Chinese companies is very competitive with Silicon Valley.

Also, the structural inequalities of Chinese society dwarf the West, meaning that the Chinese middle class gets a lot more bang for their buck: ridiculously cheap delivery services, taxis, and other services.

Sure, but no Chinese person I know has forgotten that their government literally walled in people during Covid.