I would rather someone sitting in China wants to persecute me than someone in my own country / town / neighbourhood / home - who can actually persecute me.

Likewise if I lived in China, and I had to pick between being spied on by my state or someone half way around the world - I would welcome the CIA to listen in all day long.

> Are you sure? Publically criticize the American government, then do the same with the Chinese government. Now, did your opinion change?

Personally I'm less bothered by China. I need to do business in the US, I don't need to do business in China. The US government has a lot of leverage to fuck up my life, I would not care about the reach of the Chinese.

China doesn't give a damn if I criticize them from the EU. Even our politicians are free to criticize them, in contrast to US leaders/oligarchs especially nowadays.

The thought police already arrived, see Columbia grant cancellations and Mahmoud Khalil [1].

[1] "Khalil is a “threat to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States,” said the official, noting that this calculation was the driving force behind the arrest. “The allegation here is not that he was breaking the law,” said the official." https://www.thefp.com/p/the-ice-detention-of-a-columbia-stud...

I don't think absolutes make too much sense. When in China I use US hardware. When I'm in the US I use Chinese hardware. Europe is much more closely aligned with the US than China, so I'd generally use Chinese hardware there as well.

> Publically criticize the American government

And get a tariff raise in response?