Actually, their intentions are to keep the people from being free.
China has no freedom to speak of in actuality, yet some would have us believe they are more free than us.
They are trying to keep people from getting it in their heads to overthrow the current government in China.
The idea of freedom is contagious, and their government knows this.
Their intentions are not even 'half' good.
You're right about some people laying out the propaganda that China is free.
The MSM and globalists like to grind out the spin that the Chinese people are "free" because they have a choice of buying a cell phone from four different manufacturers. That's not freedom; it's market choice. Diners in Nazi Germany, I'm sure, could order their weiner schnitzel baked one of four different ways.
I was amazed how ignorant Chinese students are of their history. I showed them a copy of the Tao Te Ching wrtitten in Chinese. They were amazed by the book. None had seen it before. I don't know if it's true for the Chinese citizen in general, but for this group they had no clue of their history before communism.