So he is. I usually don't check that but I'd guess he's only saying what he is because it's China that's being primarily effected here and he doesn't want to admit they're not a very nice country, government-wise.

And what I'm saying is that china has shown multiple times that they do not care about others. They had yet another rocket re-enter uncontrolled over a populated region. They are the embodiment of the us vs them mentality.

Yes, they should be used for humanity. However, as those countries have already shown they won't necessarily use it for humanity's best interest, that should align with your reasoning that they're on the list.

If they buy components from the US, they're not entirely developing their own program. If they're developing their own program and being self sufficient then these rules don't apply to them. And the only reason they're being restricted is because of international collaboration. And it only blocks China out of the main space faring countries. Europe is free to collaborate with even under ITAR. It's reasonable.

None of that applies to OP though. NASA is a customer, of course they fund SpaceX. But take a look at SLS to see the difference.

You are incredibly pessimistic, considering you've assumedly lived through SpaceX's increase in performance over the last half decade.

Shifting a relatively small object with a laser is much easier than shifting an entire spaceship. Right now shielding is for small things, but not forever. Isaac Arthur has some really good videos dealing with this and other topics.

Lasers can be aimed.

The larger the cross section the more objects you'd need to deflect, but also the more space you have for something like a nuclear reactor. If it's in orbit of a planet and small then it could be in the protection of larger stations on the ground or in orbit.

Orbital speeds are practically stationary compared to the speed of light, and lasers can be aimed incredibly fast.

I'm not sure how a laser array would be heavier than shielding. A Whipple shield would be lighter but if you're getting serious about shielding it's probably because you have to shield against some serious objects.

It all depends on how much power you have on hand for radar pulses. Provided you have the power requirements for the pulse you can detect anything that isn't made to evade radar, at pretty much whatever range you want.