Granted. But then, the Chinese are not threatening to fire on a US Capital Ship in known international waters, they are threatening to fire on a US Capital Ship in CONTESTED waters.
There is no historical or international law that supports anything China has claimed here. And they know it.
They are bluffing and the USN knows it.
Because the USN knows that to strike a US battle group 500-600 miles from their nearest mainland base in China is folly that the PLAN and PLAAF cannot back up.
If this was the Yellow Sea, it might be different. But even then the USS G Washington battle group, as little as 5 years ago, sailed within 100 miles of Bejing and conducted flight operations.
Not a single Chinese aircraft came out to play. Not one.