I don't think you are wrong about the way China perceives the US influence, and I don't think China is wrong to perceive it that way, either. The US government

I don't think you are wrong about the way China perceives the US influence, and I don't think China is wrong to perceive it that way, either. The US government publicly avows its support for human rights and democracy around the world in general (even as it diminishes those very principles within its own borders -- but that's another story). It's not exactly a secret, although America definitely makes exceptions for its own convenience all the time (e.g. its support for the Shah of Iran, or the dictator Mubarak), and doesn't tend to publicly proclaim its support for revolution by as-yet unknown actors in nuclear-armed states like China. However, I don't see any evidence that this notion is related to this specific case of hacking. Concern about US influences that would threaten the autocratic regime that currently controls China may be one big reason why they developed a large-scale military hacking capability. But in this particular case, it simply looks like the principal(s) of the regime using those capabilities to try to find out the names of people who leaked sensitive information -- presumably, so that those people can be imprisoned/tortured/murdered.