Why do you feel the need to add "easily"? It is not easy at all.
Some dissident like the artist Ai Weiwei recently are playing all the time with the sensitive nerves of the regime but he managed to make himself famous enough, and to never crosses the red line too far as to get "suppressed". For instance, there is this picture of him giving the finger to Mao in Tiananmen square, but it is labelled "art".
With these guys trying the system all the time and the highly reactive web sphere, suppressing dissent is far from an "easy" job.
How is it not easy? For every Ai Weiwei whose fame gives him some protection (and who still ends up getting harassed and put under house arrest) there are many Li Wangyangs
What I meant is that, against the cliche, Chinese people are not easy to control, because they have a very long experience gaming the rules and enjoy this sport. In this sense they resemble the French more than the Japanese.
Is this a cliche you've actually encountered? I have a hard time imagining anyone actually believes such a ridiculous generalization. Although if you worry about such things, you probably want to give a second thought about how you generalize about others, be they French or Japanese.
You know, "thinking" is usually done by analysis and synthesis, both movements together. And synthesis is just another name for generalization. I think it is a relevant generalization to state that French people have had in their history a bunch of struggles, which make them more sensitive to the topic than other people.
Another cultural traits: Chinese men are more shy than, say, male US citizen. I have lived in China 10 years, I don't see how anyone could deny this.
And yes, I have met the cliche of the Chinese being "easy to control" a lot of time.
Ai Weiwei who was disappeared for three months and reportedly subject to psychological torture? And he's the one who should be protected most by his international fame.
Edit: You may be right that it's not "easy": I'm sure it costs billions and billions of RMB a year. But they've had a lot of success at it.
Why do you feel the need to add "easily"? It is not easy at all.
Some dissident like the artist Ai Weiwei recently are playing all the time with the sensitive nerves of the regime but he managed to make himself famous enough, and to never crosses the red line too far as to get "suppressed". For instance, there is this picture of him giving the finger to Mao in Tiananmen square, but it is labelled "art".
With these guys trying the system all the time and the highly reactive web sphere, suppressing dissent is far from an "easy" job.