That being said. There is no doubt that Freedom of speech is important... but the truth is more complicated than that. China does not have freedom of speech but in a way neither does the US.
We have freedoms in the United States... but did edward snowden have freedom? Additionally in all of Asia, it's a well known fact that the protests were highly likely to be ignited by the CIA. How come you don't see fair and balanced reports of this policy in the United States? Most people here in the US aren't even discussing this possibility.
Make no mistake, the united states isn't the land of the free... It's just another regime.... A regime that like China has remarkable economic success, culture and important values that is worth visiting and living in despite its glaring flaws.
I urge you to visit China and not have such a one sided view of the country not because I want to promote China to be better. But because I want to promote you and the people of the united states to be better. We are better when we work together.
Also please note that China does not need you to visit the country. China's manufacturing prowess is so high that even a trade war can't stop it from being the center of the manufacturing world. The technology is so great that the US simply does not have the infrastructure to replicate it. Like it or not, even if you don't visit China, you still have to use the products that China made for you because you as a country do not have the technical ability to manufacture the same products.
Just like how the slaughter of millions of people by the nuclear bomb dropped on hiroshima by the united states does not define the united states as a country, neither do the protests of hong kong define China.