[Cacti]

The US, despite all its flaws, still has legal and political structures to prevent the worst abuses. Not all, and not for everyone, but in general people do have actual, real rights. Say what you will about the US political process, but if push comes to shove and millions of people hit the streets, changes _will_ happen.

Someday that may not be true. It's very likely the US eventually devolves into a real surveillance-police state of the type we are talking about here, but it is still quite a ways off. And, frankly, there is not much incentive for the US government to really push the envelope so long as the country is stable and rich. If that situation changes, then yeah, the US could devour itself from within in order to prop itself up, but again, that is quite a ways off.

For the Chinese government, none of these barriers exist. Hell, there is barely the concept of individuals rights in the first place.