> you can always get away with more as long as no one is watching closely

In China everyone's being watched and listened to. Foreigners like me are being watched closely, and locals are watching each other far more than occurs in Western countries (like Australia). Even just the general awareness that people are likely to be watching tends to modify behavior.

And of course it's easy for people to watch and listen nowadays. Modern phone/internet technology is being actively used. Bugs don't even need to be inside someone's apartment nowadays for others to listen in. Cameras can be so small it's virtually impossible to find them.

But some people in the West are just as involved in surveillance as occurs in China, particular people in business who protect their cash flows and power structures.

Chinese culture in its prime was very individual and diversified. That's the part produced most, if not all, of what we as Chinese could be proud of. We does have big raw talent pool, but our system also is very good at ruin it. We have an extremely low go-through rate.