[verall]

> just because their country is not "international"(whatever this means) or "technically advanced" enough

I think you're misunderstanding me - it is much more likely, due to those qualities, that people on a majority American forum have personally lived in or met people from Hong Kong. An embargo heavily reduces the ability for Americans to visit or meet people people from that country. This obviously makes those people "feel" further away.

This reduction in cultural exchange between America and communist countries is a key goal of the embargo. Between propaganda and the embargo, the average American public has no chance of realistically meeting, visiting, or understanding these people and places.