It's not a matter of "he must do X every time" but the obvious juxtaposition between two countries that are economic powerhouses with questionable records on free speech: Saudia Arabia gets criticism for for its dubious free speech record and China, seemingly more restrictive on personal liberties overall, gets none.
If he has offered any criticisms of the CCP's relationship with free speech, I apologize for missing it. Otherwise, it's hard not to be cynical about people like him that claim to care deeply about freedom of expression while playing up business interests in countries that do not share such a value.
If he truly cared about free speech, he would have criticized the CCP at least once. I did not say he has to criticize them everytime he mentions them.
He is praising the economic growth of China, which is a fact. It did grow a lot.
What would he say?
"The economic prosperity that China has achieved is truly amazing, despite lacking freedom of speech"??