Lots of things change in China because people make a big stink about it. Probably the most notable are the lockdown protests, but there are countless examples of someone complaining about bad local governance and the national government coming in to fix it.
Chinese social media is pretty vibrant with the exception that you can’t agitate for the fall of the government.
> Chinese social media is pretty vibrant with the exception that you can’t agitate for the fall of the government.
Just because one criticizes or expresses anger at the central government does not mean that they want to induce mobs that will topple it like in Ukraine. I sincerely doubt China's future history books will talk about the Pooh Bear mobs that brought down Xi's government. More likely to complain about housing or jobs.
But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the possibility that Americans can change the policies and actions of the US government, vs. the possibility that Americans can change the policies and actions of the Chinese government. (Chinese citizens' ability to change the policies and actions of the Chinese government is irrelevant.)
The fact of the matter is that Americans do have the ability to change the policies and actions of the US government. It's hard to do, requires collective action, and can fail, but it's possible, and there are quite a few example of it happening.
No American can do anything at all, ever, about whatever the Chinese government has decided to do.
That makes sense for Chinese citizens, but I was talking as a foreign citizen, since we were discussing the differences between having your own government vs a foreign government involved in what content you see.
Chinese social media is pretty vibrant with the exception that you can’t agitate for the fall of the government.