This send like the relevant bit:

Qualcomm said in a statement smartphone makers have “indicated a preference towards standards-based solutions” for satellite-to-phone connectivity.

“We expect to continue to collaborate with Iridium on standards-based solutions while discontinuing efforts on the proprietary solution that was introduced earlier this year,” the company said.

And why should you need permission to do this?

Xiaomi historically had a problem with resellers installing malware in custom ROM on their phones, so they started putting up more and more obstacles to unlocking the bootloader over time, while still providing an avenue for legitimate customers to unlock.

I don't know what spurred the current action though.

It's addressed in the article. It'll just share the credentials from your phone.

Turns out it costs more to make things in Europe.

Good article, but it doesn't support your thesis that the sanctions are about China hacking at all. The idea they've managed to achieve this through hacking to steal technology is completely non-existent in the article.

Games haven't been truly good for a long time

Meanwhile, here I am loving gaming and thinking we're in a golden age of gaming compared to my youth...