Long story short, things are just different. What is "freedom" worth? It is not tangible.
It's tangible for Meng Wanzhou. Due to Canada's independent judiciary and good legal rights, not only has she been granted the right to stay out on parole whilst her extradition proceedings are ongoing, but they've been very detailed and methodical, ongoing for more than a year now. If she'd been in China facing extradition to Thailand, she'd have been on a plane very quickly.
Contrast that with Cheng Lei who has been placed in "residential surveillance". No one apart from the Chinese state knows where she is, which also suggests she doesn't have access to a lawyer. The whole thing is bizarre given she worked for CGTN and wasn't exactly a controversial character. But she's clearly annoyed someone powerful, so now she has no rights.
What is eliminating widespread illiteracy and hunger/poverty worth? That was a reality in old China and old HK.
Briefly on Hong Kong, things haven't been that great since 1997. Property prices have skyrocketed and wages haven't kept up. Maybe there was a short-lived blip where poverty rates went down, but relative poverty is bad. Even the HK government admits that over 1 million people in the city are below the poverty line.
As for mainland China, things have got significantly better for city dwellers for sure. But the end of the iron ricebowl also hit rural communities. The idea that (mainland) China has or is on course to eliminate poverty is just not true. The CCP sets the poverty rate at 2,300 yuan
a year. That's less than $1 a day. Whereas the World Bank defines "extreme poverty" as having less than $1.90 a day.
I can understand why some people believe what the CCP is saying about ending poverty, but when you look at the numbers the position isn't justifiable.
Great that I can post crap against Trudeau here without being arrested. That doesn't feed my family or put a roof over my head. Politics are 0.001% of life.
Other people's ability to criticise Trudeau doesn't take food out of your family's mouths or take away your home. Just because you don't feel the need for a right doesn't mean it's ok to deny it to others.
That's why countries like Canada have certain rights and freedoms. They're not custom-made to look out for you and your family, they're there to protect anyone who needs them. The fact you don't need a particular right at this very moment does not mean you would not want to benefit from it in the future.
For example, I can understand if you tell me you've never been arrested by the police and don't think you ever will be - I haven't been arrested either. However, if you were arrested by the police and charged in error or maliciously with a crime you didn't commit, you would definitely want the right to:
1. seek bail and not have it automatically refused by a judge because that was government policy/the government didn't like you;
2. have access to and select your own lawyer, rather than have one appointed by the state who told you to plead guilty because that's what the state tells them to tell you;
3. cross-examine all witnesses and see all evidence; and
4. have your case decided by a jury and judge that were independent and would not convict you just because the police said you were guilty.
This would be especially the case if it was your partner or child. It's simply not credible that you would be content with the Chinese system of "if you get charged, you're fked" and tell them it was for the greater good.
If you are Chinese and calling Xi Jinping Winnie the pooh is high on your list of life priorities, you can move to the USA
Not if the police take away your passport and/or issue you with an exit ban. The issue isn't just that the CCP doesn't want you saying bad things about them in China, it's that they usually
won't let you leave if they find out about it, because they want to intimidate people staying in China.