The same claims can be made about cameras made in the west, and as somebody living in the west, I prefer to have my video streamed to some random Chinese guy than to somebody from my government.
It's a good point about paranoia, the random Chinese guys don't give a shit about you, you're generally insignificant. To your own government you are slightly insignificant but they may take more of an interest.
I've always found "Chinese state surveillance" a strange argument.
As long as I don't visit China, why would I bother more about chinese databases that I end up in, through my Huawei router or Ali-express electronics (non of which I have. It's purely fictional), than about national, Europol, or American databases that I end up through my American-synced google photos/docs/contacts/gmail, or European agencies filming me on the street?
Put differently: The CCP getting my data is creepy, but hardly a problem in practice, whereas the EU or America getting that data has direct and practical implications.
(TBF: I replaced my Huawei router with a Fritz! Box because I'm afraid of leaking to the CCP. I don't use TikTok but instead Youtube/Reddit/etc for the same reason but if I think about it: did I really improve my privacy and security of my online data?)
its not about your individual data, but the geopolitical implications of rival/adversarial nations having a significant volume of friendly-nation user data
But that also is not my individual responsibility. Why should I bother about TikTok or My Huawei router? On a geopolical scale that makes no sense.
Yet at the same time, I am directly impacted by privacy infringements or malevolent compliance (cookie banners) by privacy infringing companies from the US or the EU.