This will be a nice game of General Tso Chicken.
Is Barry willing to lose a ship?
Is Xi really willing to lose all of his ships?
They don’t need to lose any ships. Don’t you think that over the last five years of development in the Spratlys they might have an integrated defence network of sensors/radar and mobile and fixed anti-ship missile launch platforms on those islands? Why do you suppose they have they been buying all the Kilo, Song and Yuan class diesel-electric subs and outfitting them with anti-ship cruise missiles, and not building carriers or nukes? They don’t need to project power across the Pacific, just expand and defend.