Comment by jimt1234

I would think that most people view this as positive, but not without downsides. For example, I've been traveling to China (from the US) since the late-90's, when the economy in China had just started to open up. The effects from that hadn't really impacted most people yet; most people were still pretty poor. Back then, obesity was unheard of. Telling someone they looked "fat" was a compliment, meaning you could afford to eat. Since then, over the years, China got flooded with Western-style junk food, like Pepsi/Coke, KFC, McDonalds, and so on. And now, obesity is an actual thing in China, not the same level as the US, but the fact that 25 years ago it didn't even exist, and now it's becoming a public health issue - well, I think that's what most people are making jokes about, the inevitable and unfortunate consequences that never seem to get attention.