Xi said in Paris if Napoleon said China as lsleeping lion, then when wake up still just a smiling one.
Chia culture doesn’t,t have aggressive elite always more focused on suppressing own people. Cixi ,s words said best. And chiang said innner peace is way more important than resisting outside basically the same thing.
From Shang yang to shi dakai, our cruelest punishment always reserved for own people. No matter barbarians did what, revenge was rare, at least from elites. Zhu yuan zhang quickly forgave mongols, focused instead on own people.
I always threaten to world peace more from the US not China. West still reveres in wolf culture.
Mentioned some Chinese, remember China is huge, even those you described most are just keyboard bullies, they mostly won,t go to war with tameircans, instead more focused on hanjians.