I think that even today, not many people in China, the US and across Southeast Asia realize just how critical things were in the SCS - Or just how close things were getting to WW3 - During those couple days in July 2016.
The only official public announcement that even remotely hinted of the seriousness of the confrontation at that time is this poster:
View attachment 114058
Behind the scenes, China and the US pretty much engaged in a stare-down contest across the Philippines and the SCS during those few days. While the US assembled two carrier strike groups around Abraham Lincoln and John C. Stennis to the east of the Philippines, China pretty much had to scrape together all the major seagoing warships that she had at her disposal at the time (which, honestly, isn't many at all) and group them to the west side of the SCS.
To put things into perspective, while facing against the US, for the China of July 2016:
1. Liaoning hasn't even reached fully-combat-capable status - Shandong has just started construction;
2. Semi-carriers (i.e. 075) haven't exist yet;
3. Only 9 AEGIS destroyers (6 052Cs and 3 052Ds) available - 055 large destroyers haven't exist yet;
4. Only 24 frigates that can be called "modern" (2 054 and 22 054A) available;
5. DF-21D AShBM has entered service not long ago, and there isn't a lot of them - DF-17 HGV and DF-26D haven't entered service;
6. Fighters equipped with AESA just started to proliferate across the PLAAF - The 4.5-gen J-10C was in serial production for barely one year, while the 4.5th-gen J-16 and the 5th-gen J-20 just started serial production;
7. Modern H-6Ks aren't even available in large numbers - H-6Js and H-6Ks haven't even enter production;
8. ABM system isn't as complete and comprehensive as it is today -
etc.
Perhaps the only card that could possibly help China's odds and deter the US from launching direct hostilities is the 094/A SSBNs that went for deterrence patrol in the Central Pacific, where their nuclear-tipped JL-2s can reach CONUS within 15 minutes.
Although the scenario for China isn't as bad as during the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis (yes, the one with tanks and SPAs brought onboard boats to "fight against imperialist aggression"), yet the odds against China in summer 2016 is nowhere as better as today either.
Yet, China persisted, and the US blinked first. Beijing firmly stood her ground in the SCS, thus forcing Washington DC and their lackeys in Manila to back down (for at least a couple years).
Thinking how the PLA having grew massively powerful since then, we should probably lament how things were even tougher and unscalable for our predecessors and ancestors back then.
(This close-call is also why I truly believe that the Philippines must be severely punished by China in case of any war in the IndoPac theater, considering that Manila is the kickstarter of the 2016 confrontation and also the most annoying troublemaker for China in the SCS.)
These are the most vulnerable members of society! 
