Realism in China: Offensive or Defensive?

As China has risen in recent decades, there has been lots of concern among realists as to whether or not
China is a threat. Some say that China will be competing with the US for maximum power. This is
particular to Beijing. As China has risen economically, Beijing has become more and more powerful
which is causing tension between them and other regions around China. The thing that is happening with
China right now is that generally, when a country does not yet have enough power to dominate its home
region, it will generally target certain states within the country, and either reward or punish states,
depending on how prepared they are economically. The US is the only other country to reach regional
hegemony (which means total dominance), and China could be competing with them. On the other hand,
there is also a conspiracy of how going after certain regions would be counterproductive and not actually
help China economically. The other argument is that China would rather take a defensive realism
approach as opposed to offensive. So, as opposed to actually coming into conflict with the US, and
fighting for hegemony, the other theories are saying they are just trying to maintain their status quo.
John Mearsheimer, as referenced in our textbooks, is arguing that an offensive realist approach will be
taken by China, while others are arguing the other approach of defensive realism. This makes me think,
what are the cons of either of these approaches? In my research there were people saying certain
approaches were not realistic (hah, realistic, realist, get it?) but other than that there has been no stated
cons and I am interested in what some of these theorists think they are. 
Source: 
Jalil, Ghazala Yasmin. “China's Rise: Offensive or Defensive Realism.” Institute of Stategic 
Studies Islamabad, RAR MULTIBIZ SERVICES PVT. LTD., http://issi.org.pk/chinas-rise-offensive-or-defensive-realism/.

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