I mean, China has sacrificed some specific Marxist ideas in the short-term (edit: meaning "dealyed until safe", not "reverted" or "abandoned") in order to avoid being destroyed by the West like the USSR was. So it makes sense that some paranoid Marxists want to wait and see how the situation evolves before making their minds on the issue. I believe in the Communist leadership of China, but I can't blame others for being more skeptical.
I mean even Michael Parenti said China is capitalist in 1998. In 2023 we can clearly say it's not the case but it was definitely looking very suspicious in the 90's.
That said, most of western maoists are by no means Parenti who himself admitted being led astray by the western narrations in some cases. They are just petty bourgeoise posers who actually follows their own class interests by aligning with imperialism, even if unconsciously.
Deng made a huge leap of faith into the future. If the next generations failed, we would all be now calling him a next Gorbachev, regardless of his real intentions.
Communism was in a precarious state post-USSR. It makes sense that past analysts even from people like Parenti don't hold up well in hindsight. The entire communist movement was in the unfortunate position of having to make concessions to capital.