They don't need global force projection, just about everything the need or hope to gain from war is on or near their borders. China doesn't need to blow up US c

They don't need global force projection, just about everything the need or hope to gain from war is on or near their borders. China doesn't need to blow up US carriers in the Atlantic, they just need to control the south china sea which is much easier and cheaper. They're happy to let the US bleed money on trying to maintain themselves as a global power. If they really want to cripple the US then a large scale cyber attack would be orders of magnitude cheaper and far more effective than any military one.