I wouldn't call this a false equivalence, I'd consider it the canary in the mine.
While the U.S. does not appear to have cross many of these lines today: China can serve as our own warning about placing too much power in the hands of the ruling elite.
A dismissal of concerns about a rising external threat arising within the U.S. doesn't avert crisis: it delays it's response.
The US has a social credit system? No: The U.S. have a credit rating system. This controls the distribution of loans for Homes, to Credit Cards, and cars (considered a necessity in order to work in many parts of the U.S.)
Mass re-education? Not explicitly to my knowledge. A near counterpart may be the modern prison system. The U.S. leads all other nations in number imprisoned per 100,000. Furthering the concerns is a possible regression to Debtors Prison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debtors%27_prison#Modern_debto...
You switch from "The U.S." to "they" for checks and balances. I'll assume "they" is "the U.S.".
Does the U.S. operate without checks and balances?
No, however by it's nature the system is also slow to react to these threats. Thus continuing to focus light on the subject ensures a continued interest in self-policing to ensure these lines are not crossed/
To contrast with view of the U.S. Externally: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_Uni...
It's hard to argue with the last "defeat" in 1995 (and 15 subsequent "engagements") that the U.S. is a powerhouse. Hard-power Hegemony has it's perks. Soft-Power: The U.S. is still out-performing most other nations (with Forbes listing the U.S. as 4th in terms of soft-power influence).
While China's position in the world today may be concerning, the U.S.'s actions can be similarly concerning for a citizen of China. This concern is only amplified countries who aren't seated in a central position of power. They lack both the external presence flouting superiority while both observing their own internal discord.
The fine line between internal politics of a Nation and external politics conflates the problem leading to confusion and a dis-ingenuous comparison.
FYI: The U.S. is not a democracy, it's a Republic. In principle this empower's the minority protecting them from the majority. In practice this is one of the largest criticism's brought out against the U.S. today with "the 1%" being a hotly debated internal strife. While the benefit can be show-cased through the recent gay-rights movement (and earlier civil-rights movements), the draw-backs are yet-unseen.