Yeah, I had a somewhat odd conversation with a Chinese acquaintance last year when she got to talking about how America sees China. Her point was that, "How am I not free? I can do whatever I want, go where I want, buy what I want. I can talk to you and say whatever I want; nobody is here listening to me."

The fact that she can't call Xi "Winnie the Pooh" on Douyin wasn't something that occurred to her, or maybe that she was aware of at all. I didn't ask. I don't like to get into these discussions when I'm in China.

There is no such thing as “free speech” anywhere. It’s all a spectrum and the Americans in particular are indoctrinated. It’s a red herring to distract from the real social issues. People in America have some of the worst healthcare in the world. But hey at least we have “free speech”.