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Comment by Barrin92 | Hacker News Reader

>China never has and never will offer a level playing field for non-Chinese companies.

Foreign companies in China have to play by Chinese rules, which are more restrictive than the US but so do Chinese companies. When it comes to doing business abroad China imposes very few rules or conditions. Meanwhile the US has been waging a straight up trade war on China with the not just implicit but stated goal of strangling China's technological progress. If anyone should level the playing field it's the US.

This is how this is perceived in the world outside the Anglosphere, it's astonishing how out of touch the American centric commentary on this is. China's open to do business with the world, the US and Western countries are politicizing trade.

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Chinese companies don’t have to play by the rules in the same way that foreign companies do. China isn’t a rule of law country, and has explicitly stated that it doesn’t want to be a rule of law country. Instead laws are enforced selectively for whatever outcome the official branch wants at the moment (rule by law). They are perfectly willing to fine American companies when Chinese companies cheat (and not apply anywhere near the same enforcement to the Chinese company that actually cheated).

Foreign companies have to be heavily aware of context just like Chinese companies do, but they will also be treated very differently in how and when laws are applied (not always to their detriment, China will elevate some foreign companies to show they are fair and open to FDI).

>and not apply anywhere near the same enforcement to the Chinese company

About two years ago China imposed regulations on its own tech sector so strict that it killed the entire "ed-tech" sector overnight and wiped out a decent chunk of the country's tech market value. What other country has done this to its own companies?

The US has slapped a 100% tariff on cars, bans on Chinese hardware and software in autonomous vehicles, ripping out 5G equipment, tried to basically destroy Huawei specifically, and the list goes on. Whatever local favoritism may happen in China, you realize that pales to the full blown protectionism that the US engages in. China hasn't even retaliated in kind. You're complaining about being poked with a stick while throwing a sledgehammer around. Am I supposed to believe the "TikTok ban" is anything other than completely absurd security theater? Like do you think the world is so naive they think this is how the "rule of law" works? You realize every time a Western politician utters that term everyone just laughs right?

China has had 20-50% tariffs on car imports since WTO (to protect their car industry, before it was worse!), and it has been successful: they coaxed most foreign car companies into JVs where they could transfer IP. Now that their car industry is secure, to complain about protectionism from the countries they once protected themselves from is just too hypocritical.

Likewise, if you tell me America banning tiktok is unprecedented you’ve never heard of Facebook or YouTube? Again, China has no moral high ground here. If anything, I bet the Chinese government is just wondering what took us so long.

> About two years ago China imposed regulations on its own tech sector so strict that it killed the entire "ed-tech" sector overnight and wiped out a decent chunk of the country's tech market value

Unless you can point to a foreign company that was treated less harshly under these regulations than a Chinese one, this doesn’t disprove the parent’s point.

> The US has slapped a 100% tariff on cars, bans on Chinese hardware and software in autonomous vehicles, ripping out 5G equipment, tried to basically destroy Huawei specifically, and the list goes on.

Besides the car tariffs, these measures were taken to prevent Chinese hacking and intelligence gathering, not to protect domestic industries.

>Unless you can point to a foreign company that was treated less harshly

Less? Foreign companies are supposed to get privileges? My point was they're treated equally by and large. The parent should substantiate their point, how does one disprove an unsubstantiated accusation? I'm genuinely not aware of a company that, as long as they played by domestic rules, was mistreated. Tesla operates in China, they get the same subsidies Chinese EV makers get, as does every German car company.

The other user pointed to tech companies like FB, YT or Google, but they didn't leave because they were treated unfairly, they left when they didn't want to comply with Chinese law. Which is fair enough from a value standpoint or if Americans pressure the companies into it with for example Dragonfly at Google, but that doesn't mean you're treated any worse than domestic companies.

As someone who lived in China for a decade I can say affirmatively you have no idea what you’re talking about.

Chinese companies do not have to play by the same rules in China, and Chinese companies are de facto and legally arms of the Chinese government.

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