They actually understated the risk by incorrectly assessing where it would come from. The primary risk would be that the US would hit back and attempt to sabot

They actually understated the risk by incorrectly assessing where it would come from. The primary risk would be that the US would hit back and attempt to sabotage something important to China (and with China's sprawling global interests now, there are a vast number of soft, highly exposed targets). The US Government can be quite vindictive depending on the context, it will hit you back if it can. The responsible agency wouldn't seek publicity for any successful sabotage, but China would know who did it and what it was for.