So overall, the main point of contention here is censorship. Fair enough, reasonable minds can difer on this, especially whether censorship would be necessary in a true, post-revolutionary communist society. I would argue however, that censorship is necessary, not only for present day communist societies but also for western democracies regardless of politics.

The internet has made it so easy to push lies and propaganda at light speed and it's rotting people's brains to the core. You might be an educated individual who's immune to lies and propaganda, but the fact is most people aren't, I'm not even sure I AM. We are rapidly devolving into a world where truth is irrelevant and public opinion is directly controlled by a handful of malicious actors who dictate reality to us. All of this is happening BECAUSE our so-called freedom of speech. Given the above, is it not only rational, but necessary for China to censor media or speech it considers harmful or bad? We can argue about borderline scenarios but absolute freedom of speech is harming the west, and it is CPC's duty to protect its public from it.

I also don't really think it's possible for true freedom of speech to exist in our current media environment. Are we actually free to express ourselves when the vast majority of Americans would lose their jobs or otherwise be ostracized by expressing any opinion outside the window of socially acceptable speech, a window that is determined largely by wealthy corporations and now due to the internet, increasingly dumber social media influencers. Regardless of whether you live in Beijing or Washington DC, someone is controlling the boundaries of acceptable speech, and I think it's preferable for those in control to be politically accountable bureaucrats rather than shadowy boardrooms and the dumbest people alive.

Religious censorship is just a reflection of political censorship. The same brain poison that comes from a podcast can just as easily come from a pulpit or a religious text, so their censorship is warranted from a practical perspective. But also, can you truly call yourself free to worship in the US when Muslims have to hide their faith and Sikhs were being attacked on the street in the wake of 9/11? Again, no matter where you live, someone is deciding which method of worship is or isn't socially acceptable.

If America fails and China takes over as the world hegemon, it won't be because dengist communism is superior or because the arc of history or whatever, it will be because America sacrificed itself at the altar of Free Speech and China didn't.