Yes, it was only 70 short, fun-filled years ago that the People's Republic of China was formed. While they've been pretty busy establishing rigid control of the population by squashing all free speech, creative thought and generally plotting to take control of the planet, they've also establish a huge system of higher education (we're talking about 30 million undergrad students and 60,000 PhDs granted in 2018 alone. That's right, we're talking about BIG. So take a minute an read about 70 years of higher education in China. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20191001085233566
That's definitely the prevailing view of China from the west, and that view may be entirely accurate. I've also known people from China who told me they love it there and that it's way better than the United States and they can't wait to get back . I've also known people who lived in Libya during Gaddafi's regime and they said the same thing. In both cases, they always told me that the western media exaggerates and lies about events in their country. Having said all of that, there were Germans who still supported Hitler after the destruction, and slaves that defended their slave masters, so there's that...
There are LOTS of people in China who live very comfortable, perfectly happy lives. As long as you don't say the wrong thing to the wrong people you'll be just fine. And don't try to be to individualistic or creative because, you know, that suggests that there's more than one way to do things. And don't think too much. That can lead to bad things too. http://en.people.cn/
There are a lot of things about the Chinese Government I don't like. Top of the list is doctors being forbidden to speak out against smoking. A doctor talks about it --- there goes his medical license. And maybe prison time. Reason. The Chinese Government gets , IIRC, around 10% of its tax revenue from cigarette taxes.
Top of the list for me are either the Uighur concentration camps or the organ harvesting from executed political prisoners. But what you said harms a lot more people, although more indirectly. I suppose it would be a pretty gruesome set of bingo cards if we wanted to play that game.
