Nobody gets any civil rights if the CIA coups you and installs a fascist. Which is what happens if you go against western interests and aren't willing to take necessary countermeasures. Mohammad Mossadegh of Iran is my favorite example (though there are so, so many to choose from) of a left-ish leader who went against western interests, but he was a true believer in democracy and free speech and all that jazz. The CIA infiltrated every newspaper in the country, they hired people to protest against the government and they hired people to march for the government but wreck shit, they bribed people in every sector of society, from politicians to religious leaders to vote counters and so on. When the country got blockaded by the UK, he didn't align with that naughty Soviet Union but kept trying to get into the good graces of the bastion of freedom and democracy, the United States. The US, which had remained neutral in their struggle against the horribly oppressive colonial rule of :ukkk:, sold them down the river in exchange for UK support for NATO and the Korean War.

Why? Because the UK had more power, and righteousness and moral authority are meaningless compared to that. And nobody attains geopolitical power without fucking somebody over. That's how the world works. Mossadegh didn't accept that, he wasn't willing to be the bad guy. And what happened? He got replaced by a fascist, who brutally suppressed Iran's left until he got overthrown by the current government. How long until Iran gets another chance at a leftist government? Will they ever? These are the stakes of failure, never forget that.

Now personally, I don't like that state of affairs. I'd like it if there was a true international community, where if there was someone like Mossadegh who was unambiguously in the right, but crossed the interests of a powerful country, they'd still have potential friends to turn to. That is to say, a multipolar world, where countries have options and can choose their own destinies. China has flaws, yes, they're not above criticism. But you have to be willing to look past some degree of ruthlessness if you actually want someone to be able to challenge power and change the present state of things. Tbh, I wouldn't want to live in China, and not just because I'm queer. But China is paving the way (especially with BRI) for other countries to develop and survive, without dictating their domestic policy the way the World Bank/IMF do. Much of the world is still very much under the boot of colonialism, resources like mines and oil fields that were seized through force were never returned to the people they were seized from, even while they live in abject poverty while the owners are multi-national corporations run by some of the richest people on the planet.

You don't like China's style of government? That's fine. Do you like any style of government outside of neocolonialism? Then you should support China's government. Because it is through China that other options are becoming possible. If you don't believe me, then you need to learn more about the history of US backed regime change.

Tl;dr:

"Say whatever you want about me, I'm the bitch that lived"

:xi-lib-tears: :speech-l:

(Also a lot of stuff about China is made up or exaggerated. There are valid criticisms, but Western media has a track record of running all kinds of tabloid-tier stories.)