This is also my thought too:

"As Professor Allison warns, though, many in the United States will risk war to prevent China from displacing the United States from first position among world powers. For this current of American opinion, it doesn’t matter whether China is hegemonic; its offense is being China."

https://asiatimes.com/2022/01/why-does-the-west-think-china-wants-global-hegemony/