That’s the way I read it as well. That, on a practical basis, the CHinese may not have built the transformer properly either (bad insulation in one wrap of one cable in one phase is “all” that is needed) but a timed failure or remotely-induced failure requires some sort of trip mechanism or switch or power tap device that “should be” hard to hide.
These transformers operated between 45,000 volts and 500,000 volts. It is “easy” the burn the whole thing up if you can start a small failure in one place. The hard part is NOT making the dumb thing burn up!
They have a hard time just building apartment buildings that don't tip over in the rain. The main problem with Chinese business is they don't think it's important to do a good job, and screw you!