[cramexam]

Snowden does not flee the tyranny of Russia, who would have certainly pursued poisoning him if the roles had been reversed.

It looks as though Russia and possibly China have a documented history of targeting westerners with remote energy weapons. This is tyranny. USA doesn't poison nor assassinate its traitors, certainly not to the degree of our global counterparts -- much less do we not point microwave weapons at foreign diplomats. [1]

Snowden's defecting is a larger statement about US hegemony, one upon which China has freely capitalized. A justified fear is that true tyranny will result from a long term outcome favorable to China. Snowden's treason was a step in the right direction to dismantle US hegemony.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/us/politics/diplomat-atta...