I remember Hegseth, in an interview, talking about some sort of “war game” simulation in which the USN got completely obliterated by China. Not sure if it was against the PLAN specifically, but it was still defeated by China.

So if there is any truth to what he yapped on at that time, it seems the military brass would be very, very apprehensive to engaging China directly. I mean, they don’t admit it publically, at least not entirely & bluntly, at that, but behind the scenes in the current fiasco against Iran they know they’re in major hot water. I imagine many of them are anxious at the thought of having to openly engage with the PRC, especially while being simultaneously engaged on multiple other fronts.