Freedom of speech isn’t an internationally recognized right, and even where it is recognized, it isn’t always free. As Colin Kaepernick learned, it isn’t worth nearly as much as the U.S. dollar is. That’s what made his stand so noble.
Money makes cowards out of a lot of us. America’s stated values are different from China’s. It wouldn’t seem to be such a big deal for an American to say, out loud, that China has some serious human-rights issues. That’s what we do. We take in the tired, the poor and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free – at least in theory.