HN Guidelines [1] generally discourage stories about politics, but this one seems interesting enough that it would qualify as something that "gratifies one's intellectual curiosity".
Your post would have probably gotten more attention if you would have submitted the original NY Times story rather than a link to a Reddit discussion. (You might still be able to edit the link.) From HN Guidelines: "Please submit the original source".
Also, the moderators don't usually kill specific stories or topics (except spam). If articles are killed, it's usually due to users flagging them (e.g., as off-topic).
Finally, if you have questions about moderation issues, you can contact the moderators at hn@ycombinator.com.
Sadly, it just seems that no one is commenting on them. Perhaps people are burnt out on talking about related issues or this is a chilling effect of moderation on previous related issues.
It is a shame that this is not getting more attention, I see the actions of the CCP as the biggest threat to western values globally.
There's no room for "intellectual curiosity" in regards to some issues. China tops that list. HN's apolitical stance amounts to discouraging discussion in regards to dissenting views.
Like other voting based sites, there is an implicit endorsement of the dominant narratives. Presenting this as curiosity seems like a bit of a stretch.
Perhaps this could be changed by ranking contentious comments and threads differently. Disputed information is a feature of the horizon.
Ideally people wouldn't down-vote those who they disagree with, but here we are. Even if there were a disagree button, wumaos act in bad faith by definition.