I agree with your second paragraph, but not the rest of what you note. And China is certainly not "a freer country, more decentralized, and has less brainwashed people than the USA". Everything about that statement is the opposite. But you are right that many in the US, "seem completely unwilling to do any research, be critical of narratives at all, or look into contrary evidence. They swallow nonstop asinine propaganda...."

To answer your question:

The problem is that Republicans are playing politics when they criticize China, whereas they will do anything China wants, mainly because it's so profitable. This is how it works:

Republicans know that their voters are suffering because so many of their jobs have gone to China (since the 80s), so much of their shitty lives are due to the 1% not investing in the US, and instead investing in cheaper labor in China. So Republicans like to go on record saying bad things about China, while they and the 1% invest ONLY in cheap labor Chinese products. Regarding Trump, see that he helped destroy an important market for soy when he reduced the trade of it to China, while giving farmers taxayer subsidies, which gave Russians the opportunity to sell soybeans to China. And now that aspect of US soy sales is dead. Note also that the Trump crime family made significant deals with China while he was president, one noteworthy example of which is the attraction of a $300 million investment in a Kushner real estate deal (one of many), while the J Kushner borrowed $800 million for similar apartments, backed by taxpayer money (hence he doen't have to pay it). He has for many years worked with Chinese and Qatari investors, among many others, and supposedly used his security clearance to give intel to China. His example is merely one of many that show how Repuglicans are working with the Chinese and other rich investors. Another example is the role of Elaine Chao (Mitch McConnell's wife, and former Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Transportation) used her connections to develop her family's shipping company. There are some Democrats who also benefit from cheap labor and insider corruption on the Hill, but the Republican abuses, especially in the past 20 years, have been the most obvious. They want to continue deregulating these abouses. But they will remnind voters of China's human rights violations. Think also of the coverup of the specific information about the SARS origin in China 2 or 3 times since 2004. China is also a leading polluter and will continue to contribute to climate change, even when all countries - except India - are trying to reduce the impact of carbon emissions. China is also responsible for other abuses in African projects, and continues to threaten everyone in the South China Sea and Taiwan. Politicians who want to line their pockets, rather than do their jobs, will not really challenge China on anything, though they will want to appear as if they do.