The distinction is some of the anti-China submissions on HN are submitted for the sake of being anti-China, not because these posts "gratify one's intellectual curiosity". I do not consider geopolitical stories presented on the front page of mainstream media as something that "gratifies" my "intellectual curiosity" when I visit HN. I still read those off HN and I feel annoyed when I see them here, because they are not what I came here for.
The gross generalizations and shill accusations (mostly thrown against users who actually post "genuinely opposing viewpoints") endemic to these China-related submissions are just icing on the cake.