In my point of views biggest whales always Do this with china so they can crash crypto market. So they they get always lower entries and they get higher returns to create fomo when bull market happens.
If whales were collaborating with China to cause fud so it favours them, then the whales has to be the Chinese government themselves because it'll be unprofitable for China to be collaborating with the whales you're taking about and China doesn't engage themselves in unprofitable businesses. What you would had said and it'll understandable is the whales taking advantage of the china fuds to manipulate the market.
The later scenario is exactly what has been ongoing for years now in the industry, each time China issues a ban the whales take advantage of it by causing more fud either through false rumors or exaggerating the ban and the News outlets has been an accomplish to this fraud.