Maybe, I don’t think government officials should use Chinese phones. But for me personally, I don’t really think they do much spying on private citizens. What would be the point? In that regard I think Google and Apple are equally big concerns, but unfortunately you either have to live with that, or jailbreak your phone.
I used to do that, using Android AOSP without Google apps. As free as it gets. But honestly I can’t be bothered anymore. I wish there was a free option that has full functionality, but there isn’t, because the security features in everything official like public services and banking relies on the proprietary security features of either Google or Apple to work.
So unless our government gives a shit about this, I just have to accept the sorry state of lousy security our technology in general is in.