it is false to say they’re just stealing their tech
I must be misunderstanding this comment then.
As for them being at the forefront, you would have to point to a metric. AFAIK Apple is the company that has moved to 3nm process before any other tech company. Apple’s camera are dog crap, but other than that they are streets ahead. As for being ahead in networking, there is not really such a thing. Networking standards are agreed before implementation. It is not that the signal is stronger or there is a better reception. The difference between 4g and 5g is down to coding how the signal is sent.
Every country with manufacturing ability steals tech.
This really is not the case. Companies look to steal tech not nations. Western countries play ball with each other on this one. As for how good Huawei is, how do you think they got the expertise. The west was quite happy to let them come to our universities to help them catch up. And now they are biting the hand that fed them. Not only that but they are interfering in politics of other nations. They have a campaign to intimidate citizens of other states, right up to the point of kidnapping.
So no that is not racism. That is taking a moral approach to not trust a rogue state ran by a dictator.