“China stops buying our debt. War over.”
They buy a small percentage of our debt.
They need us more than we need them. We can destroy their economy by refusing their goods. We are a huge percentage of their exports.
Our appetite for Chinese made garbage has fueled Chinese expansion. If it were to suddenly stop, a massive economic contraction would have to occur. To avoid such an economic implosion, China would have to A.) find new markets for their inferior quality merchandise immediately or B.) put themselves on a war footing immediately. There may be an option C but I don’t see it and, IMHO, option A is just thrown in there for the sake of argument because there is no other market for their crap. It would be option B.