> China seems to do a decent job of it. Why can't we?

Like the One-child policy

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

Or the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

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

Or the persecution of Uyghurs

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

Or the 2021 Hong Kong electoral changes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Hong_Kong_electoral_chang...