Yes and no? In theory, the American government is "for the people, by the people", a feature not at all shared by the Chinese government. So actions taken by the American government should be the will of at least a majority of Americans.

(Of course, the reality is a bit different; the American government is run by people largely in the pockets of special-interest groups and lobbyists. But we'd like to think democracy works as well as we'd like...)

In USA at least for now nobody can claim leader for life like the CCP has done so. That a huge diff.

> Should other countries distinguish between the USA and the American government? That’s something I don’t see.

I think it's important when you are discussing some actions taken by a minority leadership - an unelected leadership at that. If Biden did something bad on behalf of the US, I would be tempted to say "Biden did X" rather than "America did X", especially if potentially speaking to an American.

I also think in terms of geopolitics, it's important to criticise the Chinese government rather than the Chinese people - especially with increasing nationalisation ongoing in China.