Yes. Bottom line, China caused 100k American deaths. I don't understand why so few people ever mention that. Except that if they did, the next logical comment would be, as you say, serious payback. Extremely serious.
I thought you said you didn't understand?
If we officially recognized that fact we'd be in a shootin' war with a nuclear power.
Symmetric nuclear war is a bad idea.
We can punish them by asymmetric means, devastate their economy. not just short term, like the WuFlu, but deeply and systemically, not merely destroy today's economy but any hope for a future economy. We can isolate them diplomatically, and roll back their attempt at world hegemony, and we can systematically and, plausibly deniably, nonviolently cut their supply lines from any country that suffered because of WuFlu.
We can prove to the much oppressed Chinese people that an atheist communist government simply can't have a 'mandate from heaven'.
We can end not just Xi's reign, but the entire communist, totalitarian system!
It will take a bit longer than a 90 min nuclear war, but...