You're delusional if you think that western media, which is presumably what you're referring to when you say "external "free" media" (your scare quotes, not mine), holds back when it comes to negative coverage of China. In reality, editorial standards go out the window when it comes to China and other adversary states like Russia and North Korea. How many times has Kim Jong-un supposedly died just this year? When was the last time a piece on Xinjiang cited a single "China watcher" who isn't Adrian Zenz?