I already laid out the alternative: reject the arms race altogether.

This is like the nuclear arms race. If you don't have nukes, the US might decide to regime change you at any moment.

Your alternative is "let the US dominate them" as if that's actually a real option.

Militarizing space isn’t defense; it’s escalation. That was the point from the start.

Doing it in response to another military power also militarizing space is obviously defensive. Again, is China supposed to just roll over for the US?

If China genuinely wanted to counter U.S. imperialism without mimicking it, it could focus on international cooperation instead of unilateral dominance.

They... are? That's Belt and Road and the China Development Bank and BRICS.

Why are you assuming China seeks dominance anyway? It's not like they kept making nukes until they had more than the US. This is likely the same - do just enough so the US leaves them alone and let's them continue their path of peaceful development.

That doesn't look like dominance to me.