China as a whole is seen differently than the Chinese Communist Party.
That sounds not just expensive but unrealistic. I think it’s easier and more politically acceptable to just cripple their launch capabilities with cyberattacks or direct force. It’s not like the world trusts or likes the CCP, or looks favorably upon their aggression against Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, Bhutan, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, etc. And this stakes are too high with orbital pollution
The bully isn't going to learn with this implicit encouragement.
Either you get along or you do not get to be a spacefaring civilization.
- "Launch their satellites for them, at 400km."
No reasonable person would help their adversary build powerful weapons that could immediately be used against them. The point of satellite constellations—Chinese or American, either—is to create undeniable, high-bandwidth communications for armies; to create real-time (as opposed to sporadic) satellite imagery for armies; to create, in short, an overwhelming situational awareness advantage in a conventional war.
- "Give them cash or territory."
We are not giving away countries.
There is no stable Mutually Assured Destruction Nash equilibrium here, if either of us does this thing it causes dramatic harm to both.
Not regarding that as a worthwhile goal is "mineshaft gap" thinking - a zero-sum mentality entirely ignoring our collective advantage in order to pursue competitive advantage.
It is perfectly feasible to run a Chinese constellation alongside Starlink sharing the same space, orbitally. Very low orbits are self cleaning.