The intent is to reveal your linguistic hypochondria, which appears to be working very well.
https://www.google.com/search?q=news+kowtow+-definition+-mea...
That's a google search. I just filter out definitions, references, and the clothing brand. Now look at it. Sure there are examples of the word kowtow used for other things. But its mostly about China. Because in the context of China, the word just suggests itself. But why? What does it add? What does it subtract. No one here wants to wrestle with that. Instead they get defensive.