I wonder if the “But at what cost?” line is sort of a way of prompting readers to imagine their own horrible scenario for what the cost might be, thus having the readers do some of the work of the propaganda themselves?

China is eradicating extreme poverty.

BUT AT WHAT COST!!??!?!?!?!

People are using clickbait articles to attract more viewers onto their website. It is a sad state of affairs. They capitalize on people’s ever growing fear of China (since the countries these coporations are based upon do not have the best relation with China). It is a sad state of affairs to see how modern day journalism has slowly been removing itself from their ethical roots in favour of more publicity (and revenue considering they charge either a subscription or support themselves by placing ads everywhere on their pages).