China is reaching out to the world. It doesn't want tariffs imposed by the US. President Xi Jinping likely feels betrayed by the man who was so kind to him previously, President of the United States Donald Trump. The Western press will of course paint China and Trump as the villains—each in their different sectors—while painting the consumer as the victim.
China's role is actually one of confusion. $500B one way and $100B another is fair if China is on the favorable end, of course. Why would someone be so cruel, using that as an excuse?
So, China is making its appeal to international bodies, such as the WTO. But, therein will befall another misunderstanding. The International community agrees on twelve nautical miles of ocean ownership, no more, and building islands doesn't count. China disagrees. So, appealing to International law won't work in China's favor, which will also seem unfair to the Chinese.
The Western press will make China out to be the bad guy, the aggressor. At the same time, the Western press will make Trump another bad guy for imposing tariffs. Of course China doesn't want tariffs, that much is understandable. But, coming to "China's" defense (actually their own) are the globalist businesses who believe that nationality, borders, and citizenship are a farce—that companies are the actual "nations" of the world. They are at war against both the US and China for not merging into one corporation. This is actually a battle for nationhood itself; from that perspective, both the US and China's responses make perfect sense.
As for China being the "bully" as portrayed by the Western press, China really doesn't see itself that way. The Chinese have no clue why the West would do such a thing, they really don't understand.