The work "likely" is doing a LOT of work there. Contemporaneous examples in the GDU, Czechoslovakia, and other form Soviet satellites transitioned to democracies in a more or less bloodless fashion.

You seek freedom? You want democracy?! You murderers! Don't you know we'll fight back for our authoritarian dictatorship and millions will die? How dare you challenge the status quo?

Instead, it failed and now you get millions dying through oppression and genocide.

Freedom has a price that must be paid in blood. Do you think China will magically become free someday? No, it will take the blood of millions to overthrown that regime.