It's unclear how long Beijing would be open to such unfettered exchanges - control of the internet is key to its repressive regime.

Lol, "unfettered exchanges" have been going on via Chaturbate for some time ... A friend told me

This reminds me of the quote:

“If I have one message to give to the secular American people, it’s that the world is not divided into countries. The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don’t know each other, but we talk together and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.”

• Marjane Satrapi