You ought to know that this hope is naive and misplaced.
There is no greater offense than contradictory the national myth; China and the US have national myths which cannot be reconciled. They can tolerate one another, for as long as they feel that they’re gaining something, but there will never be a true reconciliation.
Ideological concerns aside, the US and China are geopolitical rivals, each vying to increase their influence over the world at large, and little, petty disputes like Jenkin’s ear quickly escalate to open warfare because it provides a vague justification for crushing one’s geopolitical rival. China, as a rising power, seeks to unseat the global hegemony that the US has worked so hard to achieve. Similarly, the US as global hegemon, cannot tolerate a China which does not further its own agenda. Remember that China was initially courted by the US in an effort to weaken the USSR led communist bloc.
The best case scenario isn’t going to entail world leaders suddenly coming to the conclusion that peace is the best option for themselves and their citizens. Rather, the best case scenario is the outside bet. It is the sudden change in the scope and context of the conflict between world powers. The discovery of the New World did a lot to keep the powers of France, Spain, and England from razing each other’s capitols. Similarly, a concerted push into the development of extraterrestrial resources could alter the context of conflict between the US and its rivals. Conflict would continue to take place, but the worst violence would be taking place somewhere far away from civilization.