Even entering the airspace of a hostile country isn't safe. Two incidents off the top of my head:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Protasevich#Ryanair_Flig...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident

Is whether or not they're neutral ground something you wish to test with your freedom? If you have reason to avoid stepping foot in China, you have reason to avoid stepping foot in Chinese airports, even on international stopovers.

Airport in Canada wasn’t neutral for the huawei executive