This is what happens when an anti American president exudes weakness and fecklessness repeatedly on the international stage

First, the Chinese announce the annexation of a huge swath of the ocean.  Then they dare to engage in outrageous provocations on the high seas.

   "The guided missile cruiser USSCowpens, which recently took part in disaster relief operations in the Philippines, was confronted by Chinese warships in the South China Sea near Beijing’s new aircraft carrier Liaoning, according to officials familiar with the incident.

“On December 5th, while lawfully operating in international waters in the South China Sea, USS Cowpens and a PLA Navy vessel had an encounter that required maneuvering to avoid a collision,” a Navy official said.

Here is how that Navy Official characterized the "incident":

“This incident underscores the need to ensure the highest standards of professional seamanship, including communications between vessels, to mitigate the risk of an unintended incident or mishap.”

This was on it's face neither a problem of seamanship, bad communication, or an unintended incident or mishap.  It was a purposeful attempt to physically intimidate an American warship in international waters into bending to the unlawful demands of the Chinese government.

If we can't even call it what it is, we cannot effectively respond to it.  The language itself exudes weakness.

This sort of provocation will continue until either the administration forcefully tells the Chinese to stop in a way they believe, or an actual fight breaks out between our two forces, which might just be what the Chinese really want.  

If I was the President, I would immediately target the Chines economy, and then tell the Chinese that further antics like this will have, first, financial and economic consequences they won't like, and if that doesn't work, "other" consequences the next time they engage in an act of war on any of our forces or our allies' forces.  

Their economy cannot survive without access to international markets, and the Communist government there cannot survive without a strong economy to relieve stresses inside the country.   The real threat of a cut off of access, even to the American economy, should be enough to tone things down nicely, but if not, we had better be ready.