Is There a sinister ulterior motive ? And if so what the hell could it Be ?
Very simple.
China has 4 times the population of the US .It is almost an arithmetic certainly that ,in a couple of decades, its per capita nominal GDP about a half that of America's and ,consequently , it will have twice the nominal GDP of America.
China is becoming a world leader in semiconductors, mobile technology, AI, and supercomputers and seems to have mastered the metallurgy for jet engines and is building up tis own aircraft carrier fleet
It is also doing well from global warming with rising CO2 increasing crop yields in China . The permafrost In Siberia, in China's ally country ,Russia, will in few years melt .freeing up vast tracts of land for agriculture. Global warming will also melt ice in the Arctic waters and open up the Northeast/ Northwest Passage , opening up shorter trade routes from Europe to Asia and vice versa This will also allow Chinese shipping to bypass the US Pacific Fleet and allow Chinese warship to pass through the Bering Strait, between Russia and Canada, and converge on the northern flanks of Europe and the Americas .
America has to reset, retool, restructure its economy and industries to deal with the Chinese challenge to its hegemon status. And now I guess is as good as time as any to do it.
Elon Musk ,last month, give an idea of the sort of thinking that goes on among the top generals and industrialists, in the US.
"A thing that will feel pretty strange is that the Chinese economy is probably going to be at least twice as big as the United States' economy, maybe three times," Musk said during a fireside chat with U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. John Thompson at the Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. with U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. John Thompson at the Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
"The foundation of war is economics," Musk said. "If you have half the resources of the counterparty then you better be real innovative, if you're not innovative, you're going to lose."
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/28/musk-says-chinese-economy-will-surpass-the-us-by-two-or-three-times.html