I think the point is that China does not present itself as the paladin of free spech and individual liberties.

Chinese people and Chinese media businesses are not Americans. They are not protected by the constitution.

It is never okay, but the rest of the world (and sensible Americans) sees it as hypocritical when the land of the free does it.

The US government should just go ahead and say it like it is: they'd like to hold as much power as the Chinese government does, and they're taking the steps to do so.

The American oligarchy feels threatened because the empire is crumbling under their feet, so they're finally taking their masks off.

So much crying from Chinese pinkies today

> So is it fine when China does it, just not when the U.S. does it?

What are you talking about? No US corporation can operate in China without granting China control over your data. I mean, anyone with a cursory understanding of the topic can tell you how China effectively forces internet companies to design their China presence as completely siloed operations with very tight requirements in what personally identifiable information they store.