In Confucius teaching,
敬鬼神而远之,respect the gods/ghost/spirit/religious custom/supernatural but stay away from/do not dwell in it.
子不語怪力亂神, Gentlemen should not talk about supernatural things.
Confucius is a pragmatist and has more concern about the living and physical world then the spiritual world. Confucius once said, "How can one know about death before he knows clearly about life?"
Because of Confucism's disinclination towards supernaturality, Chinese become more rational in decision making.
In Chinese history, there is no equivalent in the west's organized Catholic church.
In China since ancient time, the government is the church. It provide all the functionality like education/teaching of the mass, setting of ethical standard, settlement of dispute and unity(because of this, Chinese intellectual generally do not find the needs for supernatural). The only different is that it is a lot less supernatural and a lot less rigid.
It is therefore, unsurprising that the Chinese government would defend its orthodoxy to the heart and mind with the same jealousy that the Pope would defend Catholicism.
And it is also why, Chinese would appeared to be drone to outsider.
Chinese congregate towards the center authority for guidance just like believers would towards a religious authority. The difference being it is not religious but more philosophical.
There is separation of Church and state in the West. That distinction is a lot more blur in China.
One cannot be said to be better or worse. We are just different.