Apologies for not reading the whole thread. Mostly I find myself in agreement with you, except for this one statement (to follow). Maybe someone already addressed this.

Which in no small part has contributed to China almost entirely refraining from military belligerence over the last 30-35 years.

Tell that to Tibet. And the Uyghurs. And, more recently, several nations around the South China Sea. So, I tend to agree that we've been "feeding the dragon" since the 70s. We enabled them to build a military that is able to challenge us. Plus, I'm not sure that internal stability in China has been a good thing since it has resulted in an ever-hardening regime. There is almost no chance of democracy ever growing there without internal discord. So, while the intent was what you said (with the "bonus" that US corporations got a vast reservoir of cheap -sometimes slave- labor), the reality is we have created a formidable antagonist with expansionist ambitions.