That line can be read in two ways, especially under an AI-controlled society. She'll be discarded quickly if either the AI system or anyone in power sees her as a threat.
As for NYT's conclusion that "the opposite" has happened, I think it's a little early to call that conclusion. Yes, China is becoming more authoritarian because of AI, but I think people have a tendency to want freedom, even if they live subjugated for decades. The more the leash gets tighter around their necks, the more they'll want it. And if China suffers a great economic crisis, that might be the excuse people need to organize and overthrow their government.
The wild card here is how good the surveillance and AI will be in the future by the time that happens. If the Chinese government has flawless execution against protesters, then it may be able to stop the protesters before they organize, but this is also a matter of how many potential protesters there will be. If it's a million, the government may have a good chance of stopping that protest. If it's 200 million, it may not be able to do that, despite its best preparations.
And one more thing. Subjugation also works best when you do it in a "boil the frog" style. If you do it too quickly, most people would have already lived in a freer society, so they may not stand for much stricter rules than what they were accustomed to. I feel that China may be moving a little too quickly with its implementation of the "Perfect Citizen" social credit system and with its punishments. It's not even implemented at full scale yet and millions have already suffered negative consequences due to it. Dictator Xi is not giving people time to accustom to the new system and accept it, and this may lead to his downfall.
I thought Kim Stanley Robinson's vision of the PRC's surveillance state in Red Moon[1] was interesting, in his future version political infighting reduces its effectiveness enough that people can still slip through some cracks.
