Looking at the history of the conflict that now exists between China and the west/USA, China originally rejected the British invitation to enter a trade relationship. Britain wanted access to Chinas produce, such as tea and porcelain but the Chinese Emperor rejected the British entreaties and responded saying China did not want or need anything from the British. The British response was to attack militarily and to smuggle Opium into Shanghai. The superior British military force subjugated Chinas army and China was forced into paying reparations for defending its own territory from British military attack. As part of these 'reparations' the British demanded Hong Kong as a territory and subsequently based their banking there from which they were enabled to force trade upon China. Subsequently most other western imperial nations demanded and gained territory and concessions from the humiliated Chinese, and China was thrown into a century of humiliation, ending with the vicious Japanese invasion and 1937 massacre of Nanqing and the subsequent enslavement of most of China to the Japanese WW2 efforts. China thus understands very well how trade and military force are related and has primarily responded by building its mercantile power and playing by the rules the west has set. Now that the west, primarily USA has lost the trade war it imposed, the west wants to change the rules of engagement, at at this point the threat of military force is a real one. China is in a much stronger position than it was in 1840 and its understanding of the nature of western imperialism, and how to respond to it, is also more developed.