Absolutely. Of course it begins with an economic threat, but it is a security threat, and you mentioned the close relationship between the civilian and military sectors in China. This is called civil-military fusion by Xi Jinping. The idea is to make it very easy for innovation in the civilian sector to be shifted over into military spheres and to be applied to military capabilities so that China can gain a rapid advantage over its potential adversaries, the United States being first and foremost.
On March 9th, 2020. See this statement in context.