[dheera]

> people and politics

Different issues here. It might not help you against politics, but it may help you in "lawless" type situations where cell networks get taken down by gorillas (e.g. if you were on the ground in Ukraine during the invasion)

As for China, it's probably technically illegal, but in China intention matters a lot in law enforcement. If you're doing a cross-continental trip and just passing through China and have it off during that time they are unlikely to actually care. The 4G/5G coverage in China is excellent anyway and violent crime is rare.

[LorenPechtel]

Yeah, as a tourist I wouldn't expect too much of an issue. I've seen it multiple times that I get something of a pass on security measures. I've been routed around metal detectors more than once, almost never asked to take a swig from my water bottle etc. So long as I wasn't in a sensitive area I wouldn't worry much about it. (Although the part of China I would be most interested into going into the sort of location where I would be carrying my inReach is Tibet.)

China concerns me for political reasons, not for personal safety ones.