True, but you can stand up against the US government. Try that in China - anywhere. I live in Macau for 6 years, so I am a bit closer to the situation, and I have been to the mainland several times. One could also argue that there have been more than a dozen 'Edward Snowden's' in China that have been silenced, jailed or killed before they could get the word out. At least, whistle blowing does work in US some times when it counts, however, I believe there were some that were silenced in the US too. Interesting, when a tragedy occurs in the mainland, scaffold collapse, etc... a number is reported that most people say is half or a quarter of the true body count.