I’m not really seeing the parallel. Unlike McCarthyism, this specific instance involves actual law breaking with enough factual basis that the government believes will result in a conviction.

It does. And as somebody who has harshly criticized Chinese domestic and foreign policy in the past on HN, I agree that cracking down on academics and technologists because of the behavior of their government is anti-intellectual and just as harmful here as it is there.

We need to simultaneously be vigilant against the dangers of other countries exploiting our confident and open stance, and also always keep our empathy for the people being oppressed by their states. I don't think that it's a balancing act, but a matter of dismantling the neoconservative and bleeding-heart-liberal mindsets, and finding a more holistic treatment of immigration and ethnic management; namely, less treatment. Over and over again, we interfere when our interests are violated, but avoid giving everybody a seat at the table when we re-assign the land; instead, we need to communicate more and interfere less.

...I'm going to have to think about this more, though, because as stated, this is a BDS strategy, and I'm not sure whether I endorse BDS strategies.