It doesn't matter if something is forbidden by directly via law or via indirect pressure of money. The result isn't all that different.

Since The results are very different, in practice and observable reality, I would have to say that the statement is wrong.

For all the indirect pressure, anti war movies do exist as do movies that challenge American systems and narratives of superiority - from within their own country.

Dissent is enshrined as a part of existence in america.

In China it is anathema, and they explicitly and implicitly act to maintain that strength.

Hence the whole point of the article - it’s not america which is asking Apple to take down apps because they hurt China’s image, and it’s not America telling the NBA to correct its errors.

When people kneeled in america during football games, or highlighted their protest, it was handled publicly and all sides were audible. political tribes fought over the act on the air waves- but that’s something that doesn’t happen in China at all; No one was whisked away to a re-education camp.

This is nonsense. The U.S military doesn't fund the U.S film making industry. The result is different, there are plenty of films critical of the U.S armed forces. In contrast that's not even a possibility in China because they have no freedom of speech and censorship is ubiquitous.