Having a similar problem: Booked an award with a cnx through China. Flights are officially cancelled.
Called Lifemiles asking to be re-routed around China, but they said they can offer a cancellation + refund (because LM rebookings apparently don't allow change of routing, only change of date), which would make it hard to find new award space. Is it possible to be rebooked and rerouted on a different *A airline, even if no award space is available? Is it better to sort this out at the airport, when the operating airline has to get me to my destination?