Yea I had a bit of a problem with that too, and the whole unlikelyness of the scenario. But I just went with it because it is a work of fiction and you have to take it on its own terms. I mean you could criticize X-Men because human genetic mutations would never result the way they do in comic books but that would be missing the point. Similarly it is the semi-fictional China of the Dragon's Fury series that commits the agression, not the actual China.
The other thing that I had a problem with that I cannot dismiss in the same way is the immense, world changing ecological change that would be caused by the use of orbital bombardment and nuclear weapons on the scale that is depicted. That can't be discounted because Dragon's Fury takes place on the actual Earth, not a "semi-fictional" Earth.
But still I really liked this book. I read it almost non-stop for days. Good job Jeff.