The Subtle Persistence of China-Shedding

DeepSeek, Manus, and the uncomfortable truth behind identity, optics, and U.S. capital

Is it finally safe for Chinese startups to stop hiding where they come from?

In a recent Rest of World story, one founder framed it this way:

“DeepSeek has shown us that as long as our product is competitive, we should not worry too much about being a Chinese company.”

But that optimism is still fragile—and perhaps a bit premature.

Even as DeepSeek makes waves, the rest of the ecosystem hasn’t exactly followed.

Recently, Semafor reported that the U.S. Treasury is reviewing Benchmark Capital’s $75 million investment in Manus, an AI company founded by Chinese technologists. Manus is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, stores its data outside China, and has a team that spans Singapore, Japan, the U.S., and China. In other words, it looks like any globally ambitious tech startup. But none of that has stopped the scrutiny.

In fact, the investment sparked public backlash from other VCs.