Damage China’s internal peace at first (4)
I believe the answer is:
chip
'damage' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'china's internal peace at first' is the wordplay.
'china' becomes 'ch'.
'at first' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'internal peace' is 'ip'.
'ch'+'ip'='CHIP'
(Other definitions for chip that I've seen before include "Golf shot; item of fried food" , "Piece off block (or on shoulder?)" , "Shaving (found on one's shoulder?)" , "Maybe silicon or potato" , "Approach shot at 1 across" .)