I have plenty of beef with the American political system, but a loud group of motivated Americans absolutely has the ability to influence government decisions. If you, a citizen, decided you really cared about something, and gathered your like-minded fellow citizens to amplify your voice, you have a real chance at making an impact. That cannot be said in any way, shape, or form for a foreign power.
Lots of things change in China because people make a big stink about it. Probably the most notable are the lockdown protests, but there are countless examples of someone complaining about bad local governance and the national government coming in to fix it.
Chinese social media is pretty vibrant with the exception that you can’t agitate for the fall of the government.
But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the possibility that Americans can change the policies and actions of the US government, vs. the possibility that Americans can change the policies and actions of the Chinese government. (Chinese citizens' ability to change the policies and actions of the Chinese government is irrelevant.)
The fact of the matter is that Americans do have the ability to change the policies and actions of the US government. It's hard to do, requires collective action, and can fail, but it's possible, and there are quite a few example of it happening.
No American can do anything at all, ever, about whatever the Chinese government has decided to do.
That makes sense for Chinese citizens, but I was talking as a foreign citizen, since we were discussing the differences between having your own government vs a foreign government involved in what content you see.
