“China warns of retaliation”
Then threaten to renounce our debt to them.
We don’t owe them as much as people think. China has only about 10% or less of total U.S. national debt treasuries. About 70% is owned by U.S. citizens. We owe ourselves for the most part.
“Then threaten to renounce our debt to them.’”
You win the prize. That is the most damaging thing the US could do to China. It would cause the Chinese banks to collapse. It would have other serious repercussions - other nations might not want to buy US debt thereby forcing the US to balance its budget, but I am not sure that is a bad thing.
We have been so scared of China for so long, America didn’t realize the Chinese have MORE to lose than them.