It seems logical to me that we should believe the Chinese expats over others, since they are the ones who had first hand knowledge. Though it seems they don't necessarily thoroughly understand the exact details of the functioning or policies of the Chinese government, they do understand the effects of the decisions made and actions taken by the government. When the 'nuances' repeatedly involve torture and horrific authoritarianism atrocities we would do well to more than raise an eyebrow. There are many such accounts by numerous expats.