One could argue that because of this action and the fact that the Chinese closed themselves off they fell behind, setting up the stage for a "Century of Humiliation". If I understand it correctly the CCP is keen not to commit the same mistakes again. Or are you saying that the CCP will scuttle it's latest Aircraft Carrier?

I would argue that the action of China burning its ships is symbolic of its its goals and ambitions when it was the strongest country in the world. It is far different from what another country, such as the UK would have done. Nowadays, China is definitely far from being the most powerful nation, so it is desperately trying to catch, so no, it won't scuttle it's latest aircraft carrier. However, China's is moreso interested in power project in its immediate vicinity, such as Taiwan, the South China Sea, the Strait of Moluccas, than power projection, say in the Bay of Bengal.

Even though I come from a nation that has suffered far far more than China under the gentle care the Western civilization, I think this is a wrong statement to make. The Chinese did not go around colonizing because they had no need to, they were self sufficient. The Europeans on the other hand were looking to trade with places like India and China. They were looking for alternate routes to Asia. They stumbled on the Americas found that they could butcher the people there and take their land, and so they did. Later they came to India and found a crumbling empire only in name. They found a people divided against each other and politically backward and so they took advantage of that. They found a China extremely weak and ripe for intervention and they intervened to preserve their interests. My point is that the Chinese would have done the same in a heartbeat if they could.

With regards to India, China is playing defensively in a long-term grand scheme. China harbors no ambition to dominate India (if if it could, which it can't), however, China knows that India's democracy is inherently biased against a authoritarian communist despotic country and is therefore inherently more friendly to Western powers (such as US, UK). In this regard, India represents a potential future threat with the potential to counter Chinese ambitions in SE Asia (which India is also interested in, and is active in courting Vietnam as an ally). Therefore, from a Chinese perspective, a weaker India (militarily and politically, not economically) is beneficial, and therefore this is why China seeks to tie India down with Pakistan.