Sure, China's position today is nothing like Japan's 80 years ago. But look at China's or Russia's actions and you see war and retaliatory actions today are als

Sure, China's position today is nothing like Japan's 80 years ago. But look at China's or Russia's actions and you see war and retaliatory actions today are also not the same as they were then. Pushing your enemy into taking expensive steps (plenty of options there, from proxy wars, to giving up nuclear facilities, to alienating foreign investment in an attempt to take retaliatory actions against US economic interests) is a result that has been achieved in the past following the exact same script. I personally don't believe these sanctions have "the right reasons" behind them because the US selectively allies with countries with a similar legal and moral track record as China. If the action is not taken on justice, fairness, or moral grounds I think my implication above is pretty fair.