The premise of "The Three Body Problem" is that the fastest way to make a technological leap is to find another species that has already developed the technology. Even seeing what can be done would make a huge impact. China's effort in the article parallels what happens in the book. Surprising that they don't mention this when talking about the motivations of billionaires and nation-states.
I don't think that was the premise at all; what you're describing sounds closer to "Signal to Noise" [1], another book that covers a lot of the same themes as Three Body Problem (first contact, the dark forest hypothesis, etc.)
