Yes, they are. China specifically gives massive discounts and the PRC even directly interferes with pricing strategy for entry level vehicles - after all, they

Yes, they are. China specifically gives massive discounts and the PRC even directly interferes with pricing strategy for entry level vehicles - after all, they own the company. This is pretty well documented. In the west, we also subsidize, but we generally subsidize new developments that hit our goals. Our goals in the west are not "EVs at any costs", unlike china, who is dependent on other nations for oil and gas. And, part of how they "subsidize everything" is that they own everything, they have the ability to extract more value from companies and give it to other companies to achieve their goals. This can backfire, and has downsides, as seen with their real estate crisis. Also, talking about budget surplus really understates the important role that debt plays in most governments. So I'd say it's a few things - China has a massive incentive to switch to EV, one that we in the west can't even imagine. They are willing to forgo profit in their car industry if it means they can reduce reliance on Russia and US-involved oil sources. This is EXTREMELY well documented. - Solar and batteries are part of their desperate struggle to not rely on Russia. They are building massive storage tanks to store cheap Russian oil - the war in Ukraine has been a blessing for China and has put them in the uncomfortable seat of wanting to prolong the war for as long as possible. I'm not saying that they are doing anything to, just that there are incentives. To be honest, China is very reticent to get involved in matters like this, and I don't blame them. - China's subsidized steel came from their massive need to build housing for their population, which ties into the next point. - You misunderstand the economics involved (as judging by the way you talk about budget surpluses). The simple reality is that China operates unlike anything in the west. I don't think this is a bad thing, necessarily, and it's certainly helped raise (at least) half a billion people out of poverty. So, everything you said "can't be true" or is "propaganda" is actually pretty reasonably explained by their explicit domestic policy and actions. I don't think they're particularly acting maliciously or trying to "start shit", they're just playing hard on the field. And they have every right to, tbh.