If you want this drama to end just regime change China (PRC) and everything will be over.
The Tiongs are sneaky bastards, its navy crew members disguise themselves as plainclothes fishermen to stir shit in the South China Sea. If anything happens, they get plausible deniability.
The US sub hit an underwater acoustic mine, but it detonated quite a distance away from the hull, because we all know Made in China products don't perform as it should.