Good point. I would maintain that the article itself didn't dispel 996 on its own (on my read it still presents it as the Chinese analogue to US hustle culture and, in so doing, as a postive counterpart to the laziness he attacks in the article) but the framing that you've added around it has "Well if they're lazy and can still lap us...", so yes, I understand how it is useful. I wouldn't drop this article on its own without those followups you mentioned above