When you buy or steal most of the necessary technology, it makes it a lot easier to match what the other guys have already done.
It’s putting in the effort and “Money” for advanced R&D that will prove how serious they are about it.
I suspect China is much more willing to take human losses to advance it's space program than the West is. And that will speed advancement.
/johnny
It’s a given too that a Chinese space station will have nuclear weapons onboard that will be able to strike anywhere in the world within minutes. When that happens they will say, “YOU LEAVE CHINA SEA NOW!!”, and we will have no choice but to obey.