That wasn't a big war.
And for China to cope with its present problems with foreign conquest equals a VERY big war. Two likely targets are known nuclear powers and the third is a probable nuclear power (and also has a 100-mile wide moat--they might as well be on the other side of the Pacific). The fourth likely target is a "shake-and-bake" nuclear power (less than 60 days from "Go" decision to operational weapons).