Oh yes but when the West implements the same tactics against China, there are no unintended consequences... If China were openly gathering data on Western citizens, the West would consider that espionage. Look at how they're complaining about TikTok when their social media companies were the original sinners. Is it because they think the data of worthless Chinese is meaningless while the private data of Westerners is a treasure? Yes.
I'll have to blame this partly on the Chinese mentality. Since Chinese want to come across as thoughtful and level-headed and not emotional and rash, that's why they don't want to reciprocate immediately and wait like a year before they do anything in response. By then it's lost it's meaning and people forget why and instead it's seen as an attack out of nowhere without reason. Sometimes the only way you can communicate with someone is to speak in their own language. That's the quickest way to send your message.