What’s wrong with syndicalism? I was watching Thomas Sankara: the upright man, and he specifically said down with anarcho-syndicalism. They seem to be one of the more decent strains of anarchism, the USSR supported them in Catalonia, maybe it’s my bias as someone who was introduced to Marxism through syndicalism, but I can’t see much wrong with them. Is it a lack of materialist analysis?
As far as not needing them to “like” the socialist world. I don’t see why they can’t just admit they don’t know everything and it’s not their primary concern.
I have tremendous respect for China and follow all the little stories when they come up, but my knowledge of China is very limited. China isn’t an immediate concern in my life.
As you say, it’s not even about getting them to like China, the USSR, DPRK, and the like. All we really need for them to do is lay off, and just recognized the shared humanity between us and them. They aren’t cartoons.