Wellllll that's what happens when the government has social control. I guess if you're not familiar with how the Chinese govt works this must all be very scary and fucky in comparison. Not to say it isn't but to call it a surprise it isn't.

Talk to any mainlander about what you can and cannot talk explicitly about online about certain topics and you'll realise that a lot of this stuff is normalized. Again there are a sizeable chunk that realize it's fucked but the sizeable chunk have no real ability to change things or is directly profiting from the government in such a way they can afford to buck things in a way poorer people can't and thus don't want to change the status quo.