When they did that, they already put themselves and China in a difficult position. China also has its face to protect. Otherwise, other countries will think they can cross China without consequences. At this point, I don't think China care much about salvaging relationship with them, so it doesn't matter whether they want to push back or not. What China care the most right now is China's position in Asia, especially among its neighbors in ASEAN. The only reason why most South East Asian countries refused to join the US camp, isn't because they love China, but because they fear China's retaliation or being dragged into a fight they don't want. Of course other countries prefer a meeker China, but that won't serve Chinese interest.Those "neutral" countries will be forced to jump into US ship if China become meeker.

Besides, even if China do things quietly like in the past, it won't change their attitude. Like I said, the geopolitics is different today. The US is pushing hard for confrontation, and under trump, it is pushing its vassals to do the same. Australia is a good example. Out of nowhere, it suddenly turned hostile towards China since the end of John Howard era, even though China has no dispute whatsoever with them. At first China tried to ignore them, and amend things quietly just like you said. But over the years, it changed nothing, they keep using megaphone policy to attack China.

A former singapore diplomat once said, soft power only works if it is built on top of hard power foundation. I agree with that sentence. Of course, having said that, I also think China need to pick which country that need to be dealt harshly and which country that need to be dealt delicately. Australia and Canada, there is no question that China need to dealt with them harshly to set an example. ASEAN, South Korea need to be dealt delicately. With Japan, you need to be firm, but not yet harsh. For EU, you need to look at member by member.