Ask HN: How save is VPN when trying to get around the ISPs?

After reading in this other HN Thread (link on the bottom) I wonder how save it actually is to use VPN. To make the connection to your trusted VPN Server you also have to trust your ISP for the first information exchange, right? For a country used to handle this kind of situation (like the Chinese government, greetings from China btw) it should be no problem to MITM your VPN connection, or am I wrong?

The other discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2079223