Republic of China surely should have been the most formidable in the world back then and not to mention they have been fighting the warlords for decades before then but they were not.

Or how about the massive force of the Soviet Union just before War World II.

Once the rot has set in, there is little the US can do. Look at the recent performance of its seamen in peace time and you seriously think it is still the same professional force decades before?!

Persian Gulf? how about Russia? Are they going to allow China to fall just like that? Once China has fallen who is the US going after? The tacit alliance between Russia and China is not out of the love they have for each other but out of strategic necessities and imperatives.

And you still haven't proven the fact the US is out to intentionally provoke a shooting war with China. Ask yourself a simple question: if the US really wants to provoke a war with China, would it conduct a freedom of navigation operation alone or invite other nations to join? Think about this question carefully and it should give you a gigantic clue.