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>Also I think China hasn’t required Chinese ownership of foreign companies for over two decades now.

That is so far from the truth. And Tesla's case, ( I think ) it was because it was set up in a Special Economic Zone. Not to mention part of the deal was to have a JV / Partnership in battery construction. i.e Using Chinese Battery. ( Majority of the BOM in a EV )

China knows how to play its card.

They require joint ventures and China does indeed ban foreign companies based on arbitrary rules.

Correct, they've stop requiring partial ownership, they've moved to "you can also operate through a mostly china-owned subsidiary". These subsidiaries often functionally require access to the IP of the real company. Mysteriously when these "partnerships" end other Chinese companies suddenly have similar IP.