Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't Chinese phones just as bad for privacy? Since most if not all run on Android. Shouldn't we be de-googling and go for GrapheneOS?

This is something to consider, certainly. What I do know is Huawei has developed its own operating system called HarmonyOS (proprietary, and we know proprietary models are less advantageous than FOSS ones) that it's been integrating into its products (and, from what I understand, shares no code with AndroidOS). I can see other relevant Chinese tech companies doing the same, if not eventually settling on a universal standard. That being said, I would trust a device running HarmonyOS more than a device running AndroidOS. I've not delved terribly deep into mobile operating systems, so forgive me for being a little bit lacking in this area at the moment.

You are absolutely right, though. We should be de-googling and moving to something much more secure (like GrapheneOS). There's always room to improve OpSec.