Personally I would rather see the money spent on research to improve spaceflight rather than dumping billions into using the outdated methods we have now just for the photo ops.
It's not like they own mars if they put a flag up there. America doesn't own the moon. Who cares where China puts a flag?
I don't think you understand how far behind the Chinese space program is either. Hopefully they get that unmanned mission to mars by 2033 as they've planned.