I think the CCP is counting on this fact. The Communist Party of China doesn't value human life and probably wouldn't be concerned about those dying horrendously as long as the party bosses weren't hurt.
On the other hand, while the free world doesn't want war and values human life such that we don't want the kind of suffering that will surely come, we realize that war may be the only option with China. Either we fight and bring horrible suffering to the world OR we let the communists win (and that ain't gonna happen).
The “secret speech” reads a bit like novelist’s conjecture to me, not saying this might not be the genuine attitude of hard-liners in Beijing, but whether such a speech is real or just a cautionary tale remains open to question.
Perhaps though we should assume that sooner or later military or more severe (than COVID-19) biological war will come to pass, would rather be fighting that on their coasts than ours.
Probably the right strategy is to offer inducements for behaviour most similar to the best Chinese posture in recent times and see if they take that hint. I thought we were getting along fairly well before this Xi monster came to power (which in absolute terms was October 2016, so he and Trump arrived at similar times, although Xi was chairman for three or four years before taking on the supreme power he has today, it’s a thing called “core leadership” google it, Mao took it on as well — even by their standards he’s more of a dictator than some recent leaders had been).