In a remarkable irony, after the late Deng Xiaoping liberalized almost every aspect of life in China, setting the nation on the path to more political and personal freedom, the western media turned against China like a scorned lover, making it international public enemy number one. What most critics don't understand is the difference between a totalitarian state and an authoritarian one. The party grants all jobs, and thus personal income. Naive Canadian tourists to Cuba, for example, often say they see no signs of a police state. Deviation from the party line means loss of apartment, job, pension.
Aged parents can loose their pensions and be evicted.
Children denied schooling, medical care, and careers. If you fail to report political deviation of a friend, relative or co-worker to the secret police, you and your family will be punished, or jailed. This was the system Deng inherited from Mao. In addition, much of China's youth had become automatons, brainwashed into the demented cult of Maoism. I vividly recall China of the 1960's and early 70's, a giant prison camp where all inmates wore the same uniforms and spouted the same moronic slogans.