> China made a pretty simple deal with foreign companies: you get to access our massive pool of cheap labor, and in return, you transfer some amount of technolo

> China made a pretty simple deal with foreign companies: you get to access our massive pool of cheap labor, and in return, you transfer some amount of technology to a local partner. China vigorously denies that there was ever such a deal. If you recognize this as the status quo, it speaks against your first point: this is not an official policy, and it never was. Any such requirement was always entirely unofficial, and an example of what you call theoretical pressure.