I saw a discussion suggesting that Chinese actions are so aggressive that the US will have to respond in their own turn. Which would prompt China to again respond. THAT is not something anyone should want. If the Ukraine war has caused these little pains to be felt in the world's economy due to shortages in energy and food and other resources, I've seen analyses that say it'll all seem like child's play if the indo-pacific is mired in war. From the semi-conductors to the disrupted trade routes (apparently 30% of trade flows through those traits), it'll be an absolute nightmare, this time FOR EVERYONE, including the Americans and Chinese. And then an economic war btw the US and China is just untenable. Plus China has, they say, been prevailed upon so far from giving direct aid to Russia since the war's outbreak in Feb. That will go out the window.
Of course, there's also, ever in the background, the looming threat of nukes flying around.
In a way, that gives me comfort that the prospects for REAL pain for the main players is so great that no one will let this happen. There are even fewer winners in this scenario than in the Russian/Ukraine situation where the main losers will be Russia and the EU and the beneficiaries only U.S. and China. If things go really badly this time around, the very best would still be very bad: basically, China would invade Taiwan and no one else would get involved and a month or a few months of this would give the world economy a real kick-in the gut. This would be the LEAST destructive/dangerous outcome.
So I don't think this situation will be ALLOWED to escalate, all chest-thumping on either side notwithstanding.
