This is what Democratic Party anti-China propaganda (especially from northern California) looks like. Give all the credit to the Chinese public and ignore the brilliant strategizing, planning, and execution of the government you're trying to undermine and eventually overthrow. Bait the hook for Chinese people who have pride in themselves and their peers, but who look down on, fear, and/or give minimal credit to their own government. It's a more sophisticated take on "we respect the Chinese people but are against the government". The reality is if China were a democracy in the 20th and 21st century, they'd be a completely infiltrated puppet state of the West. A mere shadow of its current self. With leaders that are all completely compromised and easily blackmailed. And policies that primarily serve Western interests.
It’s all projection. Since the U.S. government brims with corrupt and incompetent officials things must be a lot worse in an authoritarian regime like the PRC.