China has complete control of public opinion inside the country. In addition they can sway public opinion in most mandarin speaking population via social media blitz. China is using this chance to step up to become the new leader in regional trade, creating pacts and alliances without the US.
For a while, there was a lot of talk about USD not being reserve currency but that fizzled out especially post pandemic when China's economy was in deep trouble. 5 months ago Economist cover says US economy is envy of the world. US economy pulled away from rest of the G7 and there was no talk of USD being replaced. Within 2 months everything changed. US lost all soft power.