Not sure about NL/China but being able to read Russian freely I'd say they make more than enough stink in the media when someone gets problems for political activity. Whether the person gets a relief is of course a different question.

Your logic is impeccable. There is a lot going on that you dont know, but you know it is happening. I suppose you are doing a lot of shady stuff in your basement but we dont know it.

I know you’re casting shade, but we know for sure that China suppresses many kinds of politically sensitive news. They don’t hide that fact.