china is just letting the US know it can defend itself militarily if necessary. because china also knows it will never be able to capitalize on its economic advantage if it cannot defend itself militarily. the US has no problem escalating into violence to achieve its ends so china has to make the war option so devastating to the US that we will be forced to honor our economic obligations.
if china did not have sufficient military capabilities the US would just be on its bully...
if china did not have sufficient military capabilities the US would just be on its bully...