This sort of stems from a vision of China that is based on the aspects most relevant to Westerners as relayed by the media. Of all the things you cited, the vas

This sort of stems from a vision of China that is based on the aspects most relevant to Westerners as relayed by the media. Of all the things you cited, the vast majority of Chinese were not impacted and will therefore view the government in light of all the boring and complex policy changes that did in fact affect them. Note that I am not so much criticizing the way the media frames China as much as simply pointing out the parts that aren't discussed but that are germane to the evaluation of the country. The notion that Chinese people aren't perceptive and that they would adopt Western ideals if only we could reach out to them is pretty much orientalism 101 mixed with the End of History. There is a wealth of diversity in terms of opinions at all echelons of Chinese society, including inside the Party structure. This diversity will tend to touch on ideas orthogonal to the Western equivalent. Similar or identical in parts, but very different in others. Picture someone whose only understanding of America would be specific events like Guantanamo Bay or a smattering of memes relating to Trump. You'd want to tell this person about the complex interplay of history and culture that shaped America into what it is today, and that they are missing out on 99% of it since they are so zoomed out. What I have described here is in fact the equivalent of what the typical person commenting on China thinks and knows about the country. I myself absolutely do not claim to be an expert, just that I got a taste of how much I don't know about the topic. All of this matters greatly since it has an effect on how the West will conduct its strategy going forward.