What's "former" about rival China?
They’re no longer a rival to China, just an irritant. They lost their UN seat and most diplomatic recognition as the legitimate Chinese government, and China overtook them economically and militarily.
“What’s “former” about rival China?”
Referring to China as a military threat is no longer permitted. For if that were allowed, we’d have to take our own national defense seriously - and after wasting decades defending ourselves from the non-existent Soviet threat, we simply cannot afford.
(even though the Soviets had, and probably still have, something like 10 times the nukes and conventional weapons as ourselves - and pointed at us, we all just imagined that they were a threat, since they never attacked us)