Having re-watched 2010 a couple days back, I'm again impressed by someone even attempting to make a sequel to 2001. It required a serious amount of courage (and a lot of arrogance).
2010 was a different kind of book from 2001. Its not quite as extreme as Alien vs Aliens, but its close. The movie really suffered from the lack of China in the movie which was an important part of the book. I get the feeling they really didn't have a budget or spent it all on the actor's salaries.
The China thing would add a lot of moving parts to an already complex story. I would have written it out from the movie, but I would make a malfunction or something natural get rid of the probe, without implying the Gardeners directly, but revealing that there is complex life in Europa. Maybe getting the probe destroyed by the Europan like the Tsien was.
If someone ever manages to get 2010 (and 2001) into a miniseries (I pray someone more respectful than the monsters who butchered Childhood's End), then the China story would be an important part. If I were doing it, I'd use only audio from the Chinese astronaut transmitting on the blind and the faces of the crew of the Leonov as they listen to the tragedy and cope with the fact they can do nothing to save that voice - a death every astronaut knows from their own nightmares. It'd act as a reminder that a lot of things can - and do - go wrong even when we do everything perfectly right.
2010 was a different kind of book from 2001. Its not quite as extreme as Alien vs Aliens, but its close. The movie really suffered from the lack of China in the movie which was an important part of the book. I get the feeling they really didn't have a budget or spent it all on the actor's salaries.