Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are setting up firms across the Pacific, only to find that any investment with Chinese ties is a hard sell.

One Saturday evening in late July, more than 100 people attended an elaborate party in the lush garden of a mansion in Silicon Valley. The host was David Wei, a former chief executive of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, and now a venture capital investor. Guests, most dressed in white, were offered Panama hats as the bright California sun set and models walked a catwalk between large round tables covered with white cloths.

Many of the guests were current or former investors or entrepreneurs in China’s tech industry. Their conversations, like those at a number of similar gatherings in Silicon Valley this summer, bounced among three topics: how little confidence they have in China; how many opportunities artificial intelligence presents in the United States; and how they can

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