[darkpuma]

> "If you're worried about local government but not I.P. theft, then the Chinese backdoors won't be any threat to you."

Not necessarily. It's possible your local government has infiltrated the Chinese agencies that have access to your data. Maybe not likely, but possible. It's also possible the Chinese might choose to sell that data to your government.

[jake_the_third]

It's all about decreasing the odds. US -> China -> CPU is longer than just US -> CPU.

[darkpuma]

Yes I agree. However the calculus may change for people in smaller countries that are diplomatically closer to China than America (increasing the chance that their government will do business with the Chinese government.)