The Chinese government literally controls it.
Yes; those fools are allowing the communists to control their minds! Tune into Fox News with the enlightened people like me.
So then why did so many plead guilty to that charge?
We'll have to ask them. I suspect denial of decent council.
And why couldn't Your Dear Leader have bothered to lift a finger to help these people?
Out of office by the time the Maoist junta got going?
had any kind of "vice-grip on power", why are they not capable of accomplishing anything?
The conservative view (at least nominally) is to let you manage your own life, with special support for those conceived, but as yet unborn.
when each individual reforms,
That's really not how this works, sorry. There will always be a spectrum, within and across individuals.
Elegance and truth are inversely related. -- Becker's Razor
