I see what you mean, I agree to regular observers it seems like the democrats bent the knee, but six months ago it was the republicans who bent the knee in a similar fashion.
I still don't like your analogy though, China did bent the knee imo during Pelosi trip, but China and American politicians aren't secretly allied together, unlike democrats and republicans.
An extreme example but it was the only thing that I could think of at the moment that might get my point across. Republicans did bend the knee 6 months ago but they also secured compromises from the Democrats to remove provisions in the funding bill. The Democrats didn’t get anything.