[eightysixfour]

I think this is actually a great point because it shows how much grey there is in something you're trying to make black and white.

China is not declared a foreign enemy by law and yet the US government is actively using banning and sanctioning their otherwise legally operating companies. If they're not a foreign enemy, do they not have rights in the US?

This whole thing is only shades of grey. Pretending it is black and white makes an honest conversation about it impossible.

[mc32]

The China situation is complicated by the unfair nature of commerce with them. They can ban Twitter. Google etc. Rip off IP and so on.

So while not an enemy, they do engage in anticompetitive activities and we should counter them.

[eightysixfour]

But what if our companies are breaking Chinese law (like, not filtering searches), and that's why they've been banned?

[mc32]

It’s true and in that case unless it breaks US law, these companies should comply with local regulation.

Now that becomes complicated when you deal with authoritarian regimes whose local laws may significantly violate international law (severe human rights violations, etc).

But that’s only half the deal. The other are the one sided onerous and coercive terms applied to foreign/international companies.

There are two main possibilities of why Google almost pulled out completely from China. One was safeguarding IP, the other is that at the time they cared a bit more about their ideals.