For most normal people it doesn’t matter who initiated it. Neither of the 2 parties have much credibility. Between the NSA hacking revelations and the way China cracks down on its own people it doesn’t feel like anyone would take either side from a moral standpoint.
Oh, states will take sides out of interest: interest to make money, to get protection, to not become enemy via the “with me or against me ideology”. But not for any moral reason.
This is not China playing the same card. This is China playing aggressively, as they have been.
It's a smart strategy, don't get me wrong, but let's not claim the US as the initiators of these market-distorting actions.