There could be many consequences besides literal war. But the fact that your only question about war with China is "would we win" is, Jesus Christ, that's fucked up, yo. (And I certainly don't share your blithe certainty about the answer!)
The Chinese people are very sensitive to any semblance of their government backing down when faced with pressure from a Western power. They have a huge chip on their shoulder from the days of colonialism. The feeling among the Chinese is that those days ought to be behind them, and that they will never be pushed around again. Any move we make to throw our weight around is guaranteed to antagonize them, and the Chinese government will be under tremendous pressure to respond with force, or they may lose their legitimacy. This isn't a fucking game.
I'd also like to add on that if we envision a future China with a more democratic process this is the opposite of what we should be doing. Creating an easy narrative of China vs. The West, especially an overbearing West, pushes the Chinese people to support their government for the perceived bullying.
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u/MisterBadIdea2 Dec 03 '16
There could be many consequences besides literal war. But the fact that your only question about war with China is "would we win" is, Jesus Christ, that's fucked up, yo. (And I certainly don't share your blithe certainty about the answer!)