But dismantling soft power still seems like a shot on the foot. With soft power they would be able to keep more control over Europe, South and Central America, Africa etc. To shore up more support for their more overt actions.

You're missing my point. They do not believe that they can compete with soft power, they have convinced themselves that China's soft power will be much greater than America's soft power in the near future.

If you convince yourself of this then the only option that exists to compete is hard power and they are exerting that hard power now while they still can before China has fully reached the peak of its growing power.

The soft power has no value at all in a future where it is smaller than their rival. It is only valuable if you are the one with the most. They are exiting specialisation in soft power and instead specialising in hard power, China will take the US' role internationally as the soft power projector.