[jessaustin]

What actions do you propose in order to "engage with" this "fact"? Are there factories in Western nations that would be seized by more "authoritarian" governments? Can we write some letters to get those factories shuttered without buying into more authoritarianism too?

In fact it seems quite normal that polluters would be punished. When the authorities charged with environmental enforcement are accountable to the populace, polluters are punished for that reason. When they are not accountable, polluters are punished for other reasons, which reasons are probably more closely aligned with the interests of those authorities than with those of the populace. It's great that China no longer imports trash, and it's great that they've closed down some polluters, but they're pretty late to this party. Far freer nations managed to accomplish this a long time ago. Maybe China should copy them instead?