I believe that's what the US wants. If war starts now, US would still have the upper hand. If US waits a few more years, they would have no advantage left. The choice for US is both logical and obvious.
Maybe some elements within the US, but I don't think those people are in the majority or else there would be war already.
The SCS is actually just about the worst place the US could pick a fight with China in.
It's still the other side of the world from the US, but unlike say North East Asia, there are few 'solid' American allies in the region willing to go to war with America, certainly not against China. The one or two friends and allies who might be willing to risk it are militarily insignificant and would be more burden than boon in a shooting war.
The SCS is far enough from any Chinese strategic assets of worth that any attempts to attack such targets on the mainland would be seen as a massive escalation of a limited, regional war, and massively increases the risk the conflict could spiral out of all control. So Amercia would be under immense pressure to not go there. If they do, they can expect what little international support they have to wither and die, and that will adversely affect American moral.
However, it is still close enough to China for China to enjoy most of the key home field advantage in terms of distances (loiter time, situational awareness, reaction time), logistics (new missiles and bombs could be in the fight hours after rolling off the line, nearly impossible to meaningfully disrupt Chinese supply lines), goegraphical familiarity (PLAN captains and crews would know the area far better than their American counterparts, and China could count on the help and experience of Chinese fishermen know have generations of accumulated local knowledge to further enhance that knowledge gap).
But most importantly of all, the SCS matter an order of magnitude more to your average Chinese soldier and civilian than could be said of their American opposites.
In my view, for America to fight China in the SCS would have a similar outcome and impact as the British-American naval war of 1812.
The USN is unlikely to be utterly routed, but neither are they likely to achieve the kind of overwhelming victory they, and the world, have become accustomed to expect.
Given the geographical realities, any such war, (so long as the people calling the shots on both sides want to stop short of total nuclear war) will likely end in stalemate or a Pyrrhic victory at best. But even a minor net loss will be a massive win for China, and signal clearly to all that America is no longer the supreme military power on the planet, with all the implications and knock-on effects that would go with such a paradigm shifting fulcrum.
