[westiseast]

I suspect you've missed the point - it's about how during an unusual period of China's history, amidst extreme pressure and confusion, a random item took on incredible and I intended significance.

The American flag is a bad comparison - it does have a fixed meaning, it is intentionally imbued with significance that is widely recognized.

The religious example similarly bad. You're talking about people who already have a strong set if beliefs that are being directly challenged - not randomly assigning meaning to meaningless gifts.

I think we can manage to discuss China without it being an attack on China, or without trying to bring up comparisons with the US to 'balance the scales'