> I'm just saying his actions don't condemn him in any way...

He has lost all credibility. He might remain as CEO of Nvidia, especially because the company doesn't have a succession plan, but this is going to be the end of his political clout for a good long time, perhaps forever.

> ...which would also mean it was likely a bad play by China.

I don't really think this is the case. China will continue to smuggle chips and work on its own technology regardless.

The bottom line is China's MSS successfully compromised one of the world's most powerful executives and the price that will be paid is mostly on the US side. Given that this was disclosed to Trump a while back and he sat on it, don't be surprised if this becomes another big problem for Trump, who is in a horribly vulnerable spot right now after the midterms.

Let me rephrase that - his business actions don't condemn him. Obviously his indiscretions have ruined him, and those were certainly his actions, so you're right - but I'd classify those as his personal actions.

I don't agree this will harm the US in any way, shape, or fashion. It'll be used to justify even more stringent efforts at tech control and greater surveillance efforts of key technological players. All of this fits into US desires to a t. And while none of this will directly harm China, and may even paradoxically benefit them (for reasons mentioned previously), I can't imagine this is something they would directly aim for relative to a more favorable prior status quo.