As regards the bombing of Chinese airfields, given what Amerigo said in CMW I get the impression that General Power would have gotten last minute orders from the president to not bomb the Chinese airfields. Evidently he listened because in TTL the Chinese never became involved in the war.
Declaring war on the United States at this stage would have been a bad idea in capital letters for China. They would have gained nothing from it and would likely find themselves much worse off. As it is because they played the "peace card" they are now one of the most powerful nations on Earth.
Also, how would they project their power in a war with the U.S.? At the time - 1962 they did not have the atomic bomb. Their navy was virtually non-existent, likewise their air force and they were barely able to feed their own nation. I think the move they made to try to stay out of the war was the best move they could have made.
That Powers in thst TL didn't act as most would have expected to do, like listen to the President, was one of my problems with the story.
Powers was the one who set SAC to DEFCON 2, not the Prez, not the Joint Chiefs, Sec Def or DoD.
He wasn't really authorized to do that, or to do it in the Clear, so everyone would know.
He was one of the reasons that all the PALs at SAC were compromised. He still had predelegated laumch authority from Ike, and that never had been canceled.
While LeMay may have spoke of 'shooting the Red Dog that was digging in the backyard' Powers was the one who made the that the rifle and bullets were ready for immediate use.
This was his line of thinking
'Restraint? Why are you so concerned with saving their lives? The whole idea is to kill the Bastards. At the end of the war, if there are two Americans and one Russian, we win'