This sounds pretty crazy, but is it possible for the Chinese government to manipulate the American stock markets by playing with its own stock market?

China knows that when its markets plunge, the American markets plunge too.

Is there a way for China to create the illusion of its markets plunging, without losing real value (or at least profiting from the perspective of some influential power in China)? Perhaps they could accomplish such manipulation through a combination of 1) collusion between the CCP and the largest investors in the Chinese market, 2) currency manipulation, and 3) shorting of US equities?

I know this sounds speculative and vague, because honestly I have no idea what I'm talking about. But China certainly has the motive to manipulate American markets. And since the foreign investment is asymmetrical (e.g. the Chinese can invest in NYSE, but Americans cannot invest in Shanghai), China has an opportunity to "play both sides" of a Shanghai market crash and any corresponding American market drop, while American investors cannot do the same.

So... is it possible?