I remember how at the beginning of the trade war, a top Korean economics professor was like "China should just acquiese to US demands, it will not win the trade war against US, just give up or Chinese economy be destroyed"
It's that their identity is rooted in serving the Great , which in this era, is serving the US. They cannot fathom an independent Asian nation standing toe to toe against West or US, because all they see is lackey Japan.