So, in your view:
1. what's the real story about what's going on in China that's being missed in "untruthful" articles like this, and
2. who's reporting that story "truthfully"?
The number one take away I have from interactions with all too many Chinese nationals, unfortunately.
It might be more subtle than that. I know some Chinese nationals who report that their culture is to defend the in-group against criticisms in front of an out-group even if they themselves think the criticisms are true. To not do so is a kind of betrayal. This applies to groups as small as a family up to the whole country.
For instance, that cultural attitude were at least part of the fuel for this controversy: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-40013486
It does make it difficult to have open conversations about many topics until you're pretty close.