I’ve often thought about this as well and basically concluded that there is little difference. The Chinese Communist Party is a repressive, authoritarian political entity based in rigid ideology. Conservative Christianity is a rigid patriarchal ideology masquerading as faith. It’s not a question of atheist vs Christian countries. That’s not a fair comparison. A better comparison would be to examine the differences between secular societies with strong institutions, a commitment to social justice, investment in public education, respect for science and a more equitable standard of living with rigid, ideologically based societies. This isn’t to say that people of faith don’t exist in secular societies. Of course they do. But the influence of religion hasn’t permeated every aspect of life the way it has in countries where the clerics and the rabbinical courts and the religious conservatives have major sway. And incidentally, Russia has a long and tortured history with the monarchy and the Russian Orthodox Church. I wouldn’t exactly call it an atheist country.