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So that sounds like a lack of actively trying to put pressure on the US with express intention to hurt them, which is not the same as capitulating. As disappointing as it may be for those who wish to see the US tank as fast as possible, it seems to me like business as usual for China, who consistently appears to have a line something like "if you are willing to be cooperative, we will be cooperative with you. If you are belligerent, we will not bow."

Within the current mode of things, it seems this is a critical stance for them to have, in order to replace the US as a dominant economic force and work toward a multipolar world, without being perceived as, or materially operating as, "new flavor of empire." The fact alone that the US was not able to make China bow is already significant in and of itself. That China is not in turn trying to make the US bow is arguably significant in its own way, continuing to affirm their commitment to a cooperative mode of operating on the world stage.

We know the US / western empire will not go down willingly and I think it's safe to say with 100% confidence that China is well aware of this too. It would be kind of chauvinistic I think to believe China is somehow ignorant and confused on this matter. But there is the question of how much can be shifted in the balance of power through economics without firing a shot, and the US recklessly decoupling from China and going full warhawk is arguably more dangerous to the burgeoning multipolarity than a deescalation that is not an immediate leg sweep of the US.

In short, I don't think the takeaway here should be "capitulation". It should be: The US tried to play mask off mob boss with the world. China said no and organized with other countries to be less tied up in this volatility. Now China is stronger, the US hurt itself in confusion, and China is still the level-headed cooperative-minded entity that it was before, taking a leading role in building a multipolar world.

P.S. Open to disagreement if I'm missing critical information in how this went down, but that is how it strikes me based on what I've observed.