James Crabtree's piece is thought-provoking, and I think he is right about the CCP's original geopolitical intent. What I disagree with James on is that the CCP has long abandoned the illusion about the possibility of fulfilling its original intent aptly described here.
For the past decade, China has realized that in order to be a hegemon in East Asia, China must also be a hegemon of the world where the U.S. is the unipolar power, as there is no way the U.S. and its allies would allow China to be the unipolar power in E. Asia. Therefore, today's CCP strategic intent is to destroy America's unipolar status in the world altogether, replace it with a CCP-led global order. something like a "community of common destiny for all mankind."

This is exactly the dilemma imperial Japan was facing in the 1930s and 1940s--realizing America's resolve of not allowing Japan to be the unipolar power in E. Asia, the solution must be the Pearl Harbor attacks and a global alliance with fascist regimes against western democracies led by the U.S.

As Bon Jovi used to sing, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."