In the last decade - the man made islands have come up, arming up of the the whole area is in due process, so many closecalls between the US and PLA have taken place, patrols of the area are at an all time high, Japan changed it's military policy. Before the man made islands came up, the SCS wasn't a potential flashpoint. Deny any of this?
I never made the claim that India can handle China, and China can't handle India.
On the contrary - my point has been about how a direct face to face war is not a very realistic/feasible possibility for either.