China just takes over areas they claim as their own.

They also don't let anyone disagree with them unpunished. That's not at all what the US does, you're talking about 20 years ago by now.

China has much more sensitive toes and issues coming up are every year.

Yeah, they just systematically genocide their citizens having the wrong heritage (Uyghurs), blackout entire cities that might dissent from their proposed governing systems (Hong Kong) and deny the right of sovereignty to established countries (Tibet, Taiwan) that "don't agree to everything". Not even the tip of the iceberg.