Maybe the US is just good at maintaining a facade that they aren't authoritarian. The US border agents are acting in an objectively authoritarian manner while the Chinese border agents are not and yet somehow you conclude that the Chinese are the real authoritarians. It seems like you are a victim of propaganda.
I don't think the point is "China is not an authoritarian regime", but rather that America is more authoritarian than most Americans think, or are willing to admit.
