[kccqzy]

I typically don't have this instinctive bias against Chinese companies (they manufacture lots of great products), but I've actually heard of the leading buyer, Qihoo 360. I remember they used to release some "security software" for Windows that disabled the builtin Windows update and replaced it with their own mechanism. They also used to have their own "secure browser" that was nothing more than a shell over Trident and Webkit. I'm not sure I can find references for those claims as this was a very long time ago. But I just navigated to their official website (they seem to have two, http://www.360.com and http://www.360.cn ) and guess what. The year is 2016 and a security company's official website doesn't support HTTPS. It doesn't work on my computer and hopefully this isn't due to China's firewall.

[Fej]

The problem isn't necessarily the companies, it's that the government is in league with the companies and/or outright owns and runs them, so people are concerned about the Chinese government having their data. I am too, and I imagine most people here are as well.

[lucb1e]

Probably an unpopular opinion here, but for that matter, should I trust the American government? I'm not one of its citizens and deemed fine to spy on by American laws.

[Wingman4l7]

The American government has, historically, been more reluctant to disappear citizens whose viewpoints it disagrees with.

[lucb1e]

Good point, though I'm not physically in China either.

[khuey]

That hasn't stopped them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Books_disappearan...

[lucb1e]

In this one case perhaps. On the other hand, what would we have said if China attacked a middle eastern country in the name of "freeing it from a dictator" and it turned out their intelligence agencies tortured people there, or held "terrorists" on Chinese soil without any sort of trial? The barbarians!

There is enough mud to be thrown either way. As a country allied with the US (in general) I'm much less concerned by America's government, but the distrust of anything non-western... I mean, we are all people wanting to make a living in this world with much more in common than most are aware of.

[curt15]

>The problem isn't necessarily the companies, it's that the government is in league with the companies and/or outright owns and runs them

But that is precisely why people distrust the companies.