Every American consumer buys multiple products manufactured in China every week of her life. If this is the standard, we'll all be suspect. Perhaps that's the point...
There is a substantial difference between buying a product from a company and running one in terms of the relationships the individuals have with government involvement and the impact on directing the company to support said governments agenda.
American tastes aren't totally different from Chinese tastes, but neither are they precisely the same. Very few products could be created in one place and then profitably sold on the other side of the globe without some input from local marketers. If the end consumer is to be spared a McCarthyist show trial, what about the distributor? What about the importer?
Besides, this is silly. Firms operating in China obey Chinese laws for the same reasons that firms operating in USA obey USA laws. If they didn't operate in accordance with local custom, they would not continue to operate. Presumably many manufacturers in China (or USA) could have had a "Are we the baddies?" moment, but if so they are now necessarily no longer manufacturers in China (or USA).
Your fear and distrust of the Chinese government is perfectly rational. Even more rational would be to fear and distrust USA government just as much.
"Resorting to whataboutism"? You replied to me, bub. That TPTB in USA and China are eerily similar in their goals and methods is the point of this thread. You may not be tall enough for this ride.
That seems... High? Does every, or even most people in the US buy non-grocery items every week? AFAIK most food is domestic, and I imagine most if not all the packaging for that is domestic as well.
Sure if you buy semi-durable items: clothes, shoes, electronics, etc.
