I think it’s pretty clear from the article, that the Chinese team were coached to not back down from the more aggressive Americans. The Americans in turn, didn’t back down either.
Kind of like when the NHL allstars toured Russia many years ago and kicked their butts.
This is a direct diplomatic poke in the eye. Sports is politics and the communists in china KNOW that they are going to be the alpha dog in Asia. They wanted everybody , including their people to see how they fought the Americans and made them leave losing face.
Think about the culture there. A guest is usually treated with respect because it reflects honor on you. A “dog” is treated like they treated our team. Hahahahahahaha. Do you think the government didn’t authorize this? If this wasn’t condoned by the Chinese government, the coaches and players would be enroute to reeducation camps. The police at the scene would have cracked some skulls of the crowd for the water bottles and chair throwing.
I look at the horizon and I see war. They have too many males, rural populations by the MILLIONS poring into cities built on an economic bubble. Once we are unable to buy chinese goods, inflate our money so they are left holding worthless paper, and their economy collapses watch out Taiwan and Korea. What are we going to do with armies of limp wristed lovers and pregnant undeployable women?