Economists and politicians love to talk about “the free market” as some kind of capitalist ideal. But when countries start duking it out with policy instead of bombs, trade restrictions are often their first weapon of choice. Responding to heavy chip import restrictions from the US, China has now banned purchases of Intel, AMD, and Microsoft products for use in government computers. Under the guise of transitioning to “safe and reliable” hardware and software, the CCP’s Information Technology Security Evaluation Center has created a list of companies that government agencies are allowed to pur…