In world history, it's a common case that the number 1 is always inclined to stay at number 1 while beating down would-be contenders.
China has always been insular, and they don't think about space glories that much at the moment. It would take a couple more generations for them to care about something like that.
"Glory" can exist without comparing yourself to others. When they built the three-gorges dam they probably weren't thinking "our dam is better than those American dams". It's just impressive in its own right
They can be working on going to space without constantly bringing out the proverbial measuring tape to compare themselves to the US.
I'm not totally in the loop with the Chinese zeitgeist, so my post was a genuine question. Maybe they are comparing, maybe not. Both seem sensible reactions
Well if anything the general chinese working culture is to keep your head down and work diligently. If they do have to compare it's because of how connected everything is nowadays.
The US comparatively does boast a lot more that it's a bit of a meme on chinese social media.
China has always been insular, and they don't think about space glories that much at the moment. It would take a couple more generations for them to care about something like that.