regardless of those facts, it is pure speculation on your part as to why SWTOR is not in China. My overriding point still holds though. SWTOR is not in China and it is therefore disingenuous to compare the sub bases of both if you include a part of the sub base that is not accessible to the other.
---------- Post added 2012-12-10 at 02:53 AM ----------
You are completely right. SWTOR is much better than when it launched. Yes it is still buggy in points, but they've changed and adapted to make a very playable game. If you are considering f2p model, note that though on the surface it appears restrictive, it really is one of the most forgiving models out there. It is very easy to purchase a lot of the restrictions via the GTN (galactic trade network, or SWTOR's version of WoW's AH).
I've personally only been playing for a little over a month, on subscription if it matters. But I'm finding with 1 50, it's extremely easy to make credits. You can easily make 200,000 creds a day just doing the dailies. I'm just starting to do Ops (SWTOR's raids) and I'm finding them interesting and fun.
It's definitely a game worth looking into if you are looking for a game to play. One suggestion, check out some of HK-51's posts in some of the other threads as he gives a pretty comprehensive view of the ways the necessary purchases (whether cash or ingame creds) that will make your time in game much more enjoyable.