I think this is largely a Western idea. IMO there is no dichotomy of 'evil Chinese government' and 'liberal silent majority of Chinese people'.

Yes there are restrictions on what people there can say about the party, but it's not North Korea--people say what they really think in private conversations, and from what I've seen they are mostly happy with their government.

Will that change if government performance changes? Possibly, but I don't think there's any noble suffering aspect to it.