It's like all the other nations were at fault. But maybe these nations "caved" because the strategy implemented by the US worked. And China, based on my unders

It's like all the other nations were at fault. But maybe these nations "caved" because the strategy implemented by the US worked. And China, based on my understanding, is looking for ways to reduce US influence anyway at least domestically. So, a worsen-yet-controllable US-China relationship maybe considered beneficial on that end. The tests (lockdown etc) done during COVID time has proven that Chinese people endures much more suffering before they begin to rise up, so the economic problems introduced by not caving to the US is just a small cake for the lead party to handle.