30 years ago was far from China's weakest period, and this attitude of 崇洋媚外 still exists today, albeit COVID-19 probably battered it down quite a bit.
You just have to look at all those Chinese who give themselves English names while working in China! To me, that is one of the most absurd things ever.
That said, I will say this. People make their choices in life based on their circumstances. Just as China is not some kind of Hell, it's not Eden either. My dad chose to leave because he simply could not stand the practice of 关系 and 开后门 in order to advance his career back in the 80's. My mom, on the other hand, would have been far better staying in China, just because she had better familial connections, which she completely lost after coming here.
Myself, as a software engineer, there's no way I would be able to tolerate the 996 culture permeating all the major tech companies in China. For my kids, however, I want to keep their options open, so I place a lot of importance on them learning to read and write Chinese.