And if you flash a good custom OS like GrapheneOS, maybe LineageOS without microG, then Google doesn't track you even if you use their hardware. Even better if you use a secure OS like GrapheneOS or standard AOSP without Google Play Services or bloatware.

They are "likely worse", IE. you don't know? IMO they are not worse and the data collected by Huawei is useless compared to anything Google collects since I don't live in or near China. They also don't share it with anyone that might kick down my door if I like something that the US someday in the future sees as the new red scare.

You don't need to live in China to be affected by China. There are many ways a country can use information on foreigners to advance the country's goals, affecting said foreigners.

Some people unironically believe "Better China than Five Eyes, haha, they're too far away!".

I see nothing wrong with that. Looking at where the US is going I'd hate to be there if something I like becomes the next Red Scare.

Why is that wrong?

I wondered that too and I concluded that it's because the threat model is different.

* China spying will steal your data and identity so the safety of your money and assets will be at risk. Your photos may be sold, your credit cards may be stolen, etc.

* Five Eyes spying will hurt you if you're non-normative. Say you're a casual drug user or perform low scale criminality. Or say you're doing a thing that's legal now but illegal later.

Presumably there's the idea that China could blackmail you but I have a hard time believing anyone would go for that over just letting their naked pics on the Internet.

So the Five Eyes spying is probably harmless to someone totally normative. The China spying is probably harmful to them.

For the non-normative, dark-web peer to peer Bitcoin user who is buying LSD, the China spying is probably better.

You must be in the second category if you think Huawei will steal credit cards and rob you.

Yeah, I was eliding all the pieces as to how to get there. I think they're more likely to have unpunished rogue employees, I think they're more likely to have poor security practices, and so on and so forth.

A friend of mine was on the team that investigated the Twitter 'breach' that got those Saudi activists disappeared. Through personal experience I find it easy to believe that technique would have been more effective on a Chinese company but since I cannot communicate that experience and since you don't share it, I can accept that our views must diverge.

And yes, I'm also a drug-using dark-web crypto user. Had to keep that one quiet from the investigator friend, eh?

Illegal behavior is hardly the only reason the FBI targets people.

I picked "non-normative" intentionally.

Because your information is still getting stolen. Isn't this obvious? There is no lesser evil much less so than a country that doesn't comprehend concepts like "privacy" and "human rights".