Ok I’ll elaborate but don’t get mad at me for pointing out things that are kinda obvious from an asian perspective that seemingly alot of western commentators miss/overlook. I’m also not going to claim to be an expert on Chinese foreign policy.

Trying to keep your head down and not draw the US’s ire is the worst possible way to deal with a belligerent facist power engaged in a zero-sum game of world domination.

Ah, yes, which is famously why China has gone to war with the United States to establish global communism in the time since the Korean War. To quote Deng Xiaoping, Chinese foreign policy since the 1980’s has been “biding our time and hiding our capabilities”. Actually pertinent leftist criticism of Dengism and China has been the amount (or lack thereof) of support for socialist causes/states, especially post Sino-Soviet split. Ask yourself: if China is socialist, why are the us and china trade partners? Shouldn’t principled communists fight to end capitalism at every turn? (And to be clear so I don’t get mistaken for an ultra: there are very good reasons for China embarking on the the path it has taken. But this is still a valid criticism.)

How does the relationship between earth and the trisolarans map to the us/china relationship at all?

It needs to be stated that China has had a long history of being the victim of colonial powers. The Century of Humiliation is as important context for this work as the Cultural Revolution, and much of the driving force that created the Chinese Communist Party and fuels Chinese nationalism to this day is the desire to avoid a repeat of that dark time. The Dark Forest Theory as it is presented in the book is meant to be approached from the defender’s side: is it wise to bide our time and hide our capabilities? Is it enough?

It’s a Sci-fi allegory to frame the question: “Is it possible for a technologically inferior nation to avoid colonization by a technologically superior one, and if so how?”

I think it goes without saying that a Chinese author might give a pessimistic answer.

Also, to cover all my bases: Chinese foreign policy has shifted rather significantly under Xi Jinping to a more active role. Please remember that the Three Body Problem was published in 2008. Also, and this should really go without saying- it reflects the views and fears of the author only, and all that entails. Whether the allegory is as relevant now as it was when it was published is a separate matter of discussion.

Just speaking on the first book (I haven’t finished books 2 & 3):

• The main antagonist is a comprador who gets disillusioned with communism and sells out her country planet.

• The Trisolaran’s uses espionage and soft power propaganda (literally videogames) to sway the brightest of minds of humanity to their side. Reminder, the book was written in the 2000’s, when Chinese fears of a brain drain were real.

• The biggest one: the Trisolaran’s grand plan is to freeze technological progress on Earth. The US has been attempting to do the same to China by sanctioning semiconductors.

Like i don’t really get what the author was going for how can China hide from the US?

This is kinda the open question the work is concerned with, and in the end the conclusion is that Humanity China can’t? That the only conclusion to avoid open war and colonisation is technological parity?