Opening up to China was not a mistake. Geopolitical considerations at the time. The problem is the political class that took care of themselves before considering the interests of the people. Loral is the best example.
Opening China sure helped multi-national corporations like Apple, to make higher profits and export US Manufacturing jobs which are the backbone of middle class jobs. Not to mention manufacturing is #1 contributor to creating national wealth.
Inviting China to join WTO was as boneheaded decision as getting involved in a guerrilla war 8600 miles away. May be dismantling Saddam was arguably even worse because it costs US taxpayers $8 Trillion in middle-east wars and thousands of our soldiers killed/maimed. And the middle-east is far worse for national security today compared to when Saddam was in power.
I was an Air Force acquisitions office when Clinton/Loral were making those deals and could not believe what was literally being given away. I had no part in the decisions but most of us in my group thought it was crazy.