Who’s talking about nation building? Give them what they want. Their Utopian, Socialist paradise. Let them fend for themselves when they have nothing. No food, water, fuel, cops, nothing. Let them form a government and negotiate deals with whoever will help them.
Lots of folks say the Chinese would swoop in and get a foothold in the US. They already have one. They’ve been stealing our research and tech for decades. They’re buying up farmland all over the west and midwest. They’ve been and continue to buy up American businesses. Only person saying anything is the President. And look what they’ve been doing to him since Day 1.
While CHAZ/CHOP should have been squashed in the first 10 minutes, they could have ended it in a day, at the most. The moment they declared it a free and independent state, cut everything off. Hell, if they had shut down cell service to the area, it would have been over without doing anything but that. Let them negotiate a trade deal with the US government for any services. Set up a legitimate border checkpoint and declare anyone living there foreign nationals. Those college kids would have been gone in no time.