Let’s start with it being hell bent on annexing a peaceful independent island democracy, by force if needed, because of their own political insecurities.

The examples expand from there, but that one alone is sufficient.

You aren't familiar with Chinese illegal occupation of the South China Sea? Or the official government documentation claiming that independent Taiwan is their property?

Brinkmanship with the Philippines and Taiwan, and direct threats of imperialist takeover against the latter (Xi has reaffirmed this recently).

Exploitative labor in Xinjiang is imperialism and led to genocide.

African "investments" is imperialist, it's focused on resource extraction, debt traps and the like. Or was Japan not imperialist when it took over Taiwan, because they built our trains?

Not just westerners can correctly identify PRC imperialism.