While we colonized towards the Pleiades, the Chinese actually centralized much of their colonization in and around the Hyades Cluster.  We avoided the Hyades, due to the way the chaotic gravity currents affected our hyperdrives.  Even now, the Hyades slows us down when we enter, and we had little wish to deal with that area of space.  So we left them alone to build an effective fortress in and around the Hyades.  We would learn the error of our ways.