I really don’t think he did, just that is what the Chinese wanted to think for face reasons. He seemed very much like the average foreigner leaning it because he thought it was cool, because he had some family connection, and so on. Even him jogging in smoky Beijing is something a fresh off the plane foreigner would want to do (like I did when I was newly arrived to Beijing).
He thought learning Mandarin would help him conquer China. lol.