Probably the same intention they had when they were brimming with outrage over their spy balloon being shot down: pure posturing for the sake of appearances.
Of course China abuses state power to the hilt, and if an American spy balloon appeared over mainland China, they'd take it out of the sky without a second thought. Government PR is hypocrisy and propaganda to the core; credibility, or any semblance of moral consistency, was never the expectation or the intent.
