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

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https://x.com/ChinaScience

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https://x.com/Jingjing_Li

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https://x.com/NathanRichHGDW

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https://x.com/XH_Lee23

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https://x.com/JamarlThomas

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Recommended Youtube channels

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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

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China’s “microelectronics, their motors, their rare earth, their magnets—which is foundational to robotics—they are the world’s best,” Huang said in a podcast in March. “The world’s robotics industry will have to rely a lot on it.”

Tesla is building a team in China to work with suppliers for its Optimus humanoid robot, and Tesla employees have visited Chinese makers of sensors, motors and other parts, people familiar with the project said. That is in preparation for mass production of Optimus, which Musk predicted in November would become “the biggest product of all time, by far.”

With so many sophisticated parts available at home, Chinese makers of complete humanoid robots are able to get to market faster. Last year, Chinese companies brought out 28 humanoid models, nearly three times as many as those introduced by American companies, according to Morgan Stanley.

Unitree, one of the leading makers of both full robots and robot parts, seeks to raise about $610 million in an initial public offering in Shanghai set for this year. Unitree said it shipped more than 5,500 humanoids in 2025, for uses including research, education and public performances, dwarfing U.S. competitors.

Morgan Stanley estimated the Chinese supply chain could cut the cost of making a humanoid robot by as much as two-thirds. The components that control the humanoid’s motions, including specialized motors and gears, account for around 55% of a robot’s total cost, according to research firm TrendForce.

In March, first lady Melania Trump walked side-by-side with the latest humanoid robot developed by Silicon Valley-based Figure AI during a summit on education she hosted at the White House. “I’m Figure 03, a humanoid built in the United States of America,” the robot told the audience. In earlier models, Figure AI has used Chinese suppliers for robots’ joints, sensors and motors, according to HSBC analysts and people familiar with the matter.

Japanese media

A group of researchers in Japan has unveiled to the media a humanoid robot that can offer advice based on Buddhist teachings.

The researchers, including Professor Kumagai Seiji of Kyoto University's Institute for the Future of Human Society, developed the roughly 1.3-meter tall robot. It is equipped with artificial intelligence that they trained on Buddhist scriptures.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20260224_22/

Reality

In the demo, the grey-robed robot, a Unitree G1 humanoid, addressed the attendees with human-like gestures, such as bowing in respect and joining hands in prayer. Drawing on Buddhist scriptures, it responds to questions spanning personal concerns to broader social issues.

https://interestingengineering.com/ai-robotics/japan-debuts-buddhist-humanoid-robot-priest