A lot of more tankie leftists have a blindspot when it comes to China, so I’m not going to get into that for now. But many also admire China for it’s anti poverty action, rapid modernisation while maintaining a relatively planned economy and view it as an alternative to free market capitalism – hence offering their critical support. It is also true that some of the reports from Uyghur camps are sensationalised to create anti-China fervour in the west to whet an appetite for sanctions/divert attention from domestic troubles.

Liberal and imperialist can absolutely be on the same side of the coin – Democrats in America consistently label themselves as liberal and launch interventions into other, poorer countries. There is bipartisan support for passing expanded military budgets and continuance of Monroe Doctrine-esque policies. They often support the toppling of elected leftist leaders like Evo Morales in Bolivia (note the initial support of the NYT for the military coup). I’d recommend reading up Chomsky – Hopes and Prospects is a decent book.