I won't argue with you that China is far more repressive and less free than the US, because you are correct in that assertion. I only state that the US is far more _manipulative_.
The U.S. media has nothing on Russian state television, they are quite consciously part of the government propaganda machine. They don't hesitate to use material like photoshopped 'satelite pictures' of Ukrainian fighter jets shooting down that Malaysian airliner and present it as validated evidence. They have presented 'proof' that American soldiers are fighting in the Ukrainian army, and debate outrageous conspiracy theories straight faced. Fox News has absolutely nothing on those guys.
