The forward thinking nature of being able to crush any dissenters is a baked in part of class struggle. The State and the bosses are twinned at the hip and ensure that workers will be punished severely for getting above their station.
Criminal punishment is overwhelmingly used to selectively punish poorer people and political enemies, ignoring the general criminality of the ruling class.
Yeah we just arrest pensioners and charge them with up to 14 years in prison for holding up cardboard signs!
Oh and we deep throatedly support a genocidal state, murdering civilians by the 100,000s, but yeah sure China is the real repressive state.