Everyone said the same about the Japanese before Pearl Harbor. “Ignorant monkeys, can’t build anything but cheap junk.”
Even if people at the time said that, Im not sure what we gain by not trading with them. During world War II, we fought a two front war against 2 of the most powerful countries of the day, as we were ending the most extended depression of our history. Yet we won, because our way of government was so superior. We won the Cold War because we were able to spend the Soviets into submission. They spent HALF their money on the military, we spent 10%. A communist country of comparable size will never be able to beat a capitalist country.
Whether we trade with them or not, they will continue to expand their military. However, just like the Soviet Union, they will never be able to beat us. Free will and capitalism with always trump the Communist police state. Were it to ever come to war (which I doubt it ever will) it would be bloody, but in the end, they will never be able to prevail.