I'd believe you if your were talking about Russia, but not so much China. Unlike what we see in the tabloids, it's not lurching from one self-inflicted disaster to another, is not seeing an active decline, and does not need to blame a shadowy cabal of external enemies for its domestic fortunes and ambitions. (Which are, all things considered, faring pretty well.)

What this does feel like, is a projection of western insecurities at the principal cause of them. We fear and hate them, and the only rational justification for our behaviour is convincing ourselves that they hate and fear us even more.