Yes China War—most likely scenario for war

While the world should hope a full-scale conflict between US and China can be avoided, relations between the two superpowers continue to deteriorate. Now politicians, experts, and even America's military leaders have started to raise the question: Just how prepared is the US if the threats from Beijing become something more serious?

War in the Western Pacific is likely not an immediate danger, , but it is a possibility. Were the US to end up in a war with China, the likely cause would be a Chinese military assault on the self-run democratic island of Taiwan, which Beijing has long claimed as Chinese territory and is seen as a challenge to its authoritarian rule. President Joe Biden has that the US would come to Taiwan's defense if China attacked, a break from previous administrations' policy of strategic ambiguity. But as major rivals, the US and China could also find themselves at war for other reasons, such as China's of the South China Sea, where US and Chinese military ships and planes often find themselves in close proximity. 

American intelligence officials have that China is the "most consequential threat to US national security," and experts told us that a conflict with Beijing would trigger an "onslaught" of military threats for which the US was unprepared. A war would likely devastate the militaries involved and plunge the global economy into peril — a bleak scenario with far-reaching consequences. Any war with China would be fought on multiple fronts — from the air and sea to the web and financial markets. While the US has plenty of advantages, years of underinvestment and complacency have left America lacking in several key areas that it would need to strengthen to successfully counter threats from China. Top officials, such as Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agree America needs to bolster its readiness.

"There is nothing more expensive than fighting a war,"  during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in spring. "And preparing for war is also very expensive, but fighting a war is the most expensive. Preparing for war will deter that war."

While it would be foolhardy to predict the outcome of a war between the US and China, the possibility of it happening certainly has experts warning that America is unprepared.