Boots on the ground always get the job done, even if the tangos don’t “get” the theories of deterrence.
BUT, A little PSYOPs/serious, irreparable mental damage helps out also. The Chinese Communist "leadership" needs a frontal lobotomy, plus a whole host of Rx served up cold.. If that can coincide with unprecedented “internal” problems, demonstrations and other unspecified issues, we may yet have a “peaceful” plan for China.
China should be Balkanized. Take China apart from within. If they want to play with the bull, they better get ready for the horns, and a simultaneous kick in the pants!
The time to have done that was 20 years ago. Now, after years of industrial development and encouragement of people to move to the Special Economic Regions, the balkanization potential has markedly decreased. And, correspondingly, the fervor of Chinese Pan Nationalism has increased.