Stupid Chinese. They would have gotten away with it if they had bribed Biden.
They wanted to save money. Not that they needed to, it's just that when you pay a bribe to The Big Guy you lose face to your friend Qiang who got the same thing done paying a smaller bribe elsewhere to get the same thing done.
Chinese go absolutely nuts in this game of "I paid less than you did." Absolutely brain spinning upside down in skull nuts.