China’s long-term ambition is for its economy to rise to what Beijing considers to be its natural position in the global economic order: at the top. This ambition has been in place since the 1990s at least and remains in place today. The tactics adapt to the geopolitical environment, but the strategy remains the same. The most recent tactic is what we call the ‘broken wing’: like a parent bird drawing predators away from the nest by a show of…