Frankly I'm not surprised that this is done, probably if US was so behind it would have done the same to reduce the gap. Everyone is trying to survive and outsmart and outwit the other, instead of collaborating.
Also during World War I the American government seized German chemical patents thereby launching the American chemical industry. So that is an example of theft by the state apparatus.
1. https://itif.org/publications/2024/09/16/china-is-rapidly-be...
2. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/06/12/...
Your view of China is several decades out of date. Chinese labor isn't even that cheap any more. China is moving up the value chain and outsourcing production that needs cheap labor to poorer countries (or replacing workers with robots altogether).