More specifically, imo, we should say the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) which controls the govt. That may be too fine of a distinction for some, but I think it's not, and that it's important.
Your point is 100% valid, in that it's not the Chinese people who are to blame. It would be easy for us to say that they're not doing enough to bring about change, but I think that would be unfair to them. It's hard to wrest control away from a dictatorial, evil regime, like the one that has a stranglehold on China.