A possibility.
Yesterday China fired on a Vietnamese Fishing boat that was definitely in internationally recognized Vietnamese waters.
China is trying to assert claim to the entire Eastern Sea, often known as the South China Sea. China is in disputes with every nation that fishes these waters–the Phillipines, Japan, Vietnam, and even Laos and Cambodia. These disputes have been escalating in both frequency and severity, and previous detaining of fishermen has now grown to firing on their boats. I do not know how long the Vietnamese will tolerate this illegal behavior, but I do know that they are doing everything they can to surpress protests from the people about the Chinese. Only time will resolve this issue, and a shooting war that pits China against American Allies will drag Vietnam into it just as sure as ???.
With North Korea canceling the peace treaty with America and threatening to launch nuclear missles against the USA, I can envision a scenario that would involve a war between China & N. Korea against the USA, Japan, the Philippines, and maybe Vietnam. America is ending the involvement in Afghanistan. Perhaps now the USA will use a war against China & N Korea to pump up the American economy. Nothing any politician does would surprise me anymore.
Isn’t that depressing!
billyr88 
Yes, Bill, your scenario is depressing. However, I do not believe it will come to that. China is not yet strong enough to take on the USA;; by the time they are, I believe cooler heads will be in power. In any case, they only have to wait for history to unfold. One of two things will definitely happen; the first, USA will continue to crumble as the Republicans continue to hold the rest of the country hostage, or secondly, a small miracle will happen, and wiser heads will take over, and America wil be restored to her former strength. China is the nation of the future, and I do not see how they can be stopped.
Depressing as hell. But China went along with heavier sanctions against North Korea when they lit off their last firecracker. That’s their only ally, save probably for Iran. Like Dorothy, I believe sabre rattling is just that. China, despite its inexorable rise to domination stands to lose too much from international trade suspensions. So do the other wealthier countries. The Chinese are infinitely patient people. They can toy with their smaller neighbors who aren’t equipped to retaliate. Ultimately China or India — which is less than a decade from surpassing them in population — will dominate the world. The trough we’ve been dominating for a century will have bigger pigs to feed. Hey, I finally got my photo posted.