I think, you are right. It looks like governments globally are doing it. It may be a good indicator that encryption actually is hard for them at least on big scale.
Russia also introduced a law year ago that forces companies to help "police" decrypt traffic, it works very selectively now though.
It has of course nothing with criminals or terrorists, there is something more. :)
"And you can bet that countries like China and Russia aren’t far behind" - I am a Russian citizen and I cross the border of Russia very frequently and I cannot agree with the statement. The worse thing I've been asked about was "what is the goal of your trip". Getting your phone on the border of Russia is something impossible, it's just unimaginable. I've never been asked to show anything except for my passport. At least now and for the time before this moment.