By that statement my impression is that the only international flying you have done is Toronto and Cancun.
The China statement is an absolute possibility if you do not have a valid Chinese Visa.
I'd rather have the Toronto guy up front who decides to deviate around a storm than the guy who's convinced he'll get detained in China if he deviates or declares an emergency.
This isn't a EP-3 having a midair and landing in China while out eavesdropping.