Chinese state-owned companies have been barred from doing business in the United States, severely hampering their global ambitions. On a stage reserved for the biggest players in the global telecoms industry, three Chinese firms took their place alongside three Western companies—and pushed the message that they wanted to “work together”. But the state-owned companies—China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom—have been barred from doing business in the United States, severely hampering their global ambitions. The US authorities cited security and risks of meddling by the Chinese state—similar reasons lay behind Huawei’s exclusion from the US market in 2020. With a...