Do you think the same argument, if applied more generally, would lead towards the exclusion of all foreign tech companies from all nations? Thinking here of the deep ties between Google, Amazon, Facebook, PayPal and the US military-industrial complex.
> the deep ties between Google, Amazon, Facebook, PayPal and the US military-industrial complex
False equivalence. Google et al exist in a system where private actors can challenge the government. ZTE and Huawei are arms of a government which recently devolved into a dictatorship. One can be trusted to, most of the time, follow commercial logic; the other, geopolitical logic.
Noone can challenge the government on the basis of laws, as they can be changed as needed or mechanisms introduced to ammend the law (e.g. FISA courts). You can never win against someone who can change the rules.
You can base your challenge on the constitution, but amendments show that although harder to change it isn't rock solid either, and you challenging the government is based on the interpretation of the constitution by judges (e.g. current US gun law constitution interpretion of militias).
You can base your challenge on human rights, but the US might leave the UN and doesn't care either way. The situation is a little bit better in Europe with the ECJ, where goverments can be challenged outside the framework where they make the rules.
Companies are always maximizing profits in an environment, if this means playing by the intention of the law makers, then that's it [1]. If standing up to the government because it enhances its brand (Apple security) companies will do that.
Granted, China pushes companies more then the US does, but it's not a difference in quality but quantity.
Indeed it would and in fact largely is, especially in the case of China. For a long time Google was banned and Facebook remains so. Only with massive efforts has Google been able to somewhat operate there.
