Modi is doing the same in India, there are stories mentioned in schoolbooks as well about him fighting off crocodiles.
China is now an emerging power that US and the West cannot ignore. You can shoot balloons with 400,000$ side winders that could have been brought down with a BB gun I guess.
The West just can’t fathom any challenger to them anymore and it’s all too obvious through this article as well. China hasn’t shown any imperialist designs till now unlike the west that’s decimated half the world for its greed of natural resources.