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This study addresses the question of how interplays of stigmatized categories might trigger public disapproval and stigma response strategies. We develop two categories: possession of network ties with home‐country governments and market entry into salient industries in target nations. Based on a comparative study of four Chinese firms’ acquisitions in the United States and Australia, we show that (1) firms face different levels of disapproval amid differing interplays of the stigmatized categories and that (2) each firm adopts a distinctive response strategy. Our study contributes to the organizational stigma literature by theorizing about the relationships of categories’ interplays, disapproval levels, and stigma responses. It also adds to the embeddedness perspective by providing an argument for the socio‐political liabilities of strong ties, and it contributes to international business studies on exploring a theme of geopolitics and stigmatization of firms. Finally, it offers research directions relating to these fields of inquiry.