In a way, these Chinese students are correct. The gaokao is literally is the only test China uses to determine where a student will place in university. It's such a high-stakes test that students feel an extreme pressure to cheat -- although we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that these students are not capable of academics at a very high level. Cheating or not, a typical kid in these academically prestigious city schools is as brilliant as any kid who's admitted to any prestigious high school in the US.

Students in other schools in the area gain a competitive advantage to college if the examiners are selective in where they enforce the rules -- and that's the problem here. The examiners only targeted a couple of schools for this extreme scrutiny meaning they are literally affecting the children in this one high school for the rest of their lives. And that really is unfair.
Either target each and every school, or don't do this at all.