excluding those who've racked up points through submissions, the theory goes that high karma points = thoughtful poster.
thoughtful posters should thus realize that China is a country of 1.3 billion people, which highly highly complicates EVERYTHING.
Frankly, compared to the other 1 bln + country, I think China has done a remarkable job. Even if you just focus on the HR record, China is comparable to India, if not exceeding it.
The community has grown, and these restrictions aren't "indexed to inflation" so to speak, so the bar is lower all the time. Also, while I personally agree that downvotes should only be used for trollish things (or really just done away with in favor of flagging), that has never been universally agreed upon (and I have seen this topic come up a lot).
China is worse in regards to suppressing free speech and political dissidents. Everything else; poverty, crime, development India either lags or is just as bad.
It may even grow even faster if the caste system is abolished.