It is more accurate to say that the US government has mandated law-enforcement backdoors that means any telecom equipment provider has covert access, Chinese or

It is more accurate to say that the US government has mandated law-enforcement backdoors that means any telecom equipment provider has covert access, Chinese or otherwise. And now that this is the case they would really rather that you stop using the Chinese ones (and use instead US companies, who also have access to the backdoors and are willing to share it with the US government). As a practical matter, it all depends on your threat model: are you more likely to get into trouble if the US government knows your secrets, or the Chinese one? How much of a premium are you willing to pay to minimize this risk either way?