In a liberal democracy, the worst that happens is social ostracisation.

You sure about that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO

Similar shit happened in Europe during the cold war too, to a lesser extent maybe. But no, the worst isn't just "social ostracisation", it's being actively persecuted by the state, up to and including assassination if you make too much noise.

You're right that liberal states tolerate dissenting speech a bit more, what they don't tolerate at all though is you taking action in accordance with your dissenting political beliefs.

I'm not going to respond to any more comments here, because it seems that few people on Hexbear are actual socialists, but rather just knee-jerkingly defend any country that claims to be socialist regardless of whether they are. China largely isn't a socialist country any more and hasn't been since Mao died. Even the collective farms in rural areas are dying out. "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" is a bullshit term because the "Chinese characteristics" added are just capitalism. If you only characterise political systems as "socialist" or "liberal", and conclude that an illiberal system must be socialist and therefore good, it is not only extremely naïve but a disservice to the socialist cause.

I've heard this opinion a lot but I remain unconvinced, it's pretty obvious to me the CPC has a much much stronger grip on the country's economy than your average western liberal party in charge. What do you say to the arguments presented in this article? https://redsails.org/china-has-billionaires/