> the US government doesn't have a "god credential"

Why are you so quick to believe they don't, and that China does?

> process to request the data involving courts

Secret courts that rubberstamp agency requests without oversight.

An opaque process of secret courts with secret decisions may be different legally, but in spirit it does not seem that significantly different to me in terms of preventing overreach and abuse.

Especially if you happen to not be a US citizen, in which case there are no actual safeguards anyhow.

IMHO this mirrors nicely the situation of a US citizen being concerned that the Chines govt won't protect their rights. This is how most of the world sees the US "checks" and "balances".

Even though I loathe spying, I must admit that the US (or any country for that matter) does not really have any natural or legal obligations to respect privacy of foreigners abroad.

It is their own business to protect it themselves.

Yeah, but then don't expect people to show much compassion when the same thing happens the other way around and the US immediately cries wolf.

Not an American, and I don't. Big countries throwing tantrums is somewhat ludicrous anyway.

The "secret" part there undoes pretty much your entire contention.

That which doesn't see the light of day may as well not even exist.

How many families are disappeared annually for the wrong political statements in the US?

What's the practical difference between AT&T "god credentials" and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A ?

unless they slap “patriot act” on it.

I’ve lived in Iran, I really don’t see much of a difference in how the US operates. The U.S. just does more paperwork to justify their shit.