Xi is inept, but the playing of a poor hand is somewhat forced by the US. Recall there was already a pivot to Asia under Obama to counter China's rise, and before that, if it weren't for 9/11 and the Iraq War boondoggle, Bush Jr. was planning to do the same. Since the end of the Cold War, the US has never given up on destabilizing CCP rule, and with hands free now the heat was turned up to 11 on all fronts. China had been preparing too. The Belt and Road Initiative was a preemptive seeking of alternate routes of trade in preparation for the then-anticipated American sanctions.

Everybody in Asia knows this. Only the American public doesn't and thinks this dynamic is something new.