I truly believe the Chinese Communist Party is using western racism, more specifically American Yellow Peril racism against America.
"We will be home by Christmas," that is what the Americans said before they went into the Korean Peninsula and started the Korean War. They started it and thought they be home by Christmas.
Trump started his trade war and tech war and thought the Chinese will wilt, or collapse, or lose, whatever he was thinking.
Both events have the same motivation, that they will beat up China, and full belief in their arrogance they will have cleaned everything up by Christmas.
Since things did not exactly work out that way, they got trapped in their position. That is what the Chinese Communist Party seem to be doing, which is replay American history, poking at the right triggers to foment the position the CCP wants the Americans want to be in.
No Chinese think tank will ever say that.
(As an aside, no Chinese think tank ever bothered with an opinion that the America wanted to invade Iraq to topple Saddam was a good or bad idea. Everyone in officialdom wisely kept their mouths shut and played mah jong.)
No Asian think tank will ever say that either, because then the Chinese will accuse them of being racist or a bad person or whatever. Yet, we all read the same stuff all out of Sun Zi, lol.
Another example is Japan.
Japan and its ninja tricks, always egging on the Americans to do more militarily in the region, while ninja Japan sits around and does nothing.
Look at the facts. Japan through Abe suggested this QUAD alliance. Today there is a trade war and tech war against American, a trade whipping boy in Australia, and twenty soldiers were killed in hand to hand combat with India, yet what did Japan do to contribute to this QUAD alliance other than suggest tougher action be taken? Japan ninja has done nothing except make some noises, and immediately sign onto the RCEP.
Ninja Japan will just watch to see who wins, then side along the bigger power.
No Chinese think tank will ever say anything about the way of the ninja.
Maybe later, when the time is right.