The loss of China's entire navy would be nothing compared to the loss the United States would experience as a consequence of war with a major trade partner. The loss of China's entire navy would be nothing compared to the loss the United States would experience when CSG-5 hits the bottom of the South China Sea. Basically China can push as hard as they want with no fear of the US actually taking action. Economically, China's won. America has invested a lot of money building infrastructure in China. On paper, we're richer, we own them, but ownership on paper isn't real control. Materially, they've got all the factories, and enough of the world's natural resources to make good use of them. If America embargoed tomorrow, China would still have the rest of the world as an export market. Diplomatic power is just a function of military power, don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise.True power in the international community is in economics and diplomacy. They are exposing themselves as amateurs here, I'm afraid.