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It's not a cute little game, but we need to be realistic about it. Spying is something that all governments do, provided that they have the means to do so. As such, we have a lot of spies, as do the other major world powers. I don't think that we want to get into a pissing contest where a bunch of Chinese, Russian, French, British, Israeli, and American spies are all being executed by the governments of the others. Our own people that turn on us? For sure, as I said, this dude who was spying on behalf of China should be executed for his crimes. But executing a bunch of British nationals is a bad look once we've discovered them here, and they are 100% here, spying on behalf of the Crown. Better to just punt them home, slap their government in the peepee somehow, and then readjust our efforts to close that vulnerability. I would expect others to do the same or face consequences, as such.
Sounds like the same rationale for politicians not holding other politicians accountable. Everybody is doing it (eg. appointing their friends to jobs, helping out big donors, insider trading, skirting the FOIA, feeding propaganda to media outlets, etc.).
If foreign spies aren't doing enough damage to be punished (i.e. you wanting to simply send 'em home), then executing domestic perpetrators sounds a bit harsh. On the one hand it's a little game everyone plays, just don't get caught. On the other it's a matter of life and death. Yeah, I don't know. Think I'll stick with supporting the execution of anyone who can be proven a spy. If we lose some overseas then so be it. That's what happens when you go to other countries to commit crimes.