China doesn’t aim for global hegemony

You are gliding over every single time that Xi Jinping said, out loud, that this is the long term goal? Why wouldn't you believe him?

Yeah, they couch it carefully, but it's quite clear, from the China #1 propaganda, that China doesn't want to uplift anyone else, they want to use their soft power to make neighboring countries dependent on them. They're following the playbook laid out by Western companies in the 20th century, but organizing it with State controlled corporations.

And as for Singapore, there's a lot of propaganda from some right-wing Supply-Side economists that mischaracterize that country as being an ideal Capitalist state, while gliding over how the State controls most of the means of production. It isn't an ideal system, it has many inequities. But it's an example that serves as a surprising counterpoint to the argument that only free markets can thrive & survive in global capitalism, and components of it could be useful for looking for solutions to the issues with capitalism. Right wing economists do this, so they don't have to confront how incorrect their argument that Capitalism cannot be reformed with the State taking a direct role in the economy without disaster.