Well, the Chinese culture was/is unabashedly xenophobic (and superstitious), so they had a head start. Japan deliberately developed katakana for foreign words, but China's attitude was that it did not have to bend to others or make its language easier for outsiders.

I've read articles that they regret that now, and typing is a special trick in languages with kanji, but China is a prideful with a very ancient history; the leaders had no way to assume that one day those same "devils" would actually be someone they would want to work with.

Destroying the ancient knowledges of their own temples and slaughtering countless holy men (who were like living jewels of knowledge) seemed like a good idea in the name of Communism at the time. Plus, as Eddie Izzard jokes, you can pretty kill as many of your own people as you like without fear of interference.