yeah I think that hypothesis has legs. China has been trying to diversify their energy portfolio for a long time now. They're also going full steam ahead on wind and solar and is the world leader in battery storage (lithium ion and other types too). Fossil fuel, other than coal, has always been a major weakness for China that can be choked off via the Straits of Malacca.

I wonder if powering their reactor using thorium from their rare earth minerals mining is significantly cheaper than using uranium. Thorium also have the advantage of a very low weapons proliferation risk so it might be easier for China to export thorium reactors. This may play into China's long term plan to develop the global south as an alternative market (and counterweight) to the West.