Freedom in China, Not a Good Score, By James Reed

The Zero Hedge piece" https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/china-scores-9-out-100-2025-world-freedom-report cites Freedom House's 2025 World Freedom Report, scoring China 9 out of 100—rated "not free." Political rights scored a chilling -2 (out of 40), and civil liberties a mere 11 (out of 60), unchanged since 2021. Freedom House notes the CCP's "increasingly repressive" grip, controlling bureaucracy, media, online speech, religion, universities, businesses, and civil society. This isn't just authoritarian suppression—it's a totalising effort to dominate every sphere of life, a hallmark of totalitarianism per scholars like Hannah Arendt, who emphasized ideology and terror as tools to erase individuality.

Xi Jinping's rule exemplifies totalitarian control. Since 2012, he's dismantled term limits (2018), embedding "Xi Jinping Thought" into the constitution as a mandatory creed. The Zero Hedge article doesn't detail this, but it's widely known that Xi's anti-corruption purges—targeting rivals like Zhou Yongkang—cemented his unchallenged authority. This cult of personality, echoed in Mao's era, demands loyalty to one leader and one party, unlike authoritarian regimes that might tolerate limited pluralism.

The Freedom House summary, via Zero Hedge, highlights Tibet's 0/100 score, with -2 political rights and 2 civil liberties, under CCP rule that denies fundamental rights and crushes dissent. Xinjiang's Uyghur camps—though not separately scored—house over a million in a re-education network, per UN estimates, with forced labour and cultural erasure. This isn't sporadic oppression but a deliberate, state-orchestrated campaign to remould entire populations, akin to Stalin's collectivisation.

China's social credit system and pervasive tech—facial recognition, AI—track 1.4 billion people, punishing nonconformity with travel bans or job loss. The Zero Hedge article notes transnational repression, with China as a "major perpetrator" in 2024, silencing dissent abroad. Domestically, the CCP mobilises citizens for state goals—nationalism over Taiwan or economic dominance via Belt and Road—blurring public and private life, a totalitarian trait distinct from authoritarianism's focus on obedience alone.

Sun Kuo-hsiang, quoted in Zero Hedge, calls China's system "totalitarian" due to no elections, no multi-party competition, and zero political participation rights. Unlike authoritarian states with nominal opposition, China's CCP brooks none—Hong Kong's 2020 National Security Law, dropping its score to 40/100, shuttered parties and media overnight. Lai Jianping adds that daily life under this regime confirms its "evil actions," aligning with Freedom House's damning assessment.

China's 9/100 freedom score, Xi's absolute rule, and the CCP's relentless control over thought, culture, and dissent paint a totalitarian picture—not just authoritarian. Europe's defensive stance against Russia contrasts with China's internal and external domination, where the state doesn't merely govern but seeks to own its people and reshape their reality. The Zero Hedge data, paired with observable policies, seals the case: China is a modern totalitarian dictatorship. The West, beware!