It’s kind of hard to see it that way, especially because of the rich propaganda value of it back home.
I guess it would be rich, until the story popped with the intense international publicity it is sure to get, most of which will point out that the film was a blatant lie. While China screens news, screening out a globe’s worth of gab about the issue will be next to impossible. For propaganda purposes, China would have been best served by leaving the issue alone. I still think the pianist knowingly socked the hornet’s nest knowing it would head home.