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[All of this makes me think Xi may be under pressure from CCP and elites. It seems an almost desperate attempt of defensiveness.]

It’s offensive, not defensive. It’s human nature to want more than you have. It’s why man’s long-ago ancestors were hairless apes who wore animal skins, mastered fire, crossed rivers and seas and hunted big game while their cousins - chimps, gorillas and orangutans - were content with staying where they were and dining on berries and roots.

The virus thing was probably an accident. But the outside hostility is the perfect opportunity for him to rally support for what he wanted to do anyway. It’s actually pretty standard practice to push your adversaries without quite crossing over into armed hostilities until they push back, so you can say the other guy started it. For instance, the winning of the West required relentless incursions into Indian territory until they began raiding colonial settlements. China’s expansion from a small kingdom on the banks of the Yellow River involved similar tactics. I’d say it was pretty much a universal tactic for any country of any size beyond a small village encompassing a few dozen people.