There is much closer and easier territory for China to take than the USA. New Zealand, for example, is a low-hanging apple ready to be plucked anytime. Borneo, the Philippines and lots of other places would be invaded before the USA. For that matter, they could simply colonize Africa much more easily than invading a down but still dangerous USA. A China invasion is about #300 on my worry list.
I hope you guys are right. And it would be a signal for China to move, aggressively, in the entire Pac region.
Lots of excellent farmland in New Zealand. And the carrying capacity would be hundreds of millions of people. After the New Zealanders currently there were exterminated...
And who to stop them?
I work with teams of Chinese. They have no desire to invade. Hell, they are worried about being invaded.