If someone punches you and you punch them back, do you become the same as them?

There is an important difference between starting a fight and finishing one.

> There is an important difference between starting a fight and finishing one.

Not really. The difference is usually in how you do it.

Funny, when I read this initially my first thought was: it would be inconsistent for the US, as champion of the free market, to attempt to impose its will on a country such as China by itself acting contrary to free market principles.

Then I remembered: the US has not had a problem doing just this with/to other countries before; for example South Africa. There were not only the apartheid-era sanctions; there have also been the post-apartheid era "negotiations" (for example, 'halt your satellite development program or we will oppose your entry to GATT').

It seems fair to say the US has used "steamroller" tactics like this before. So maybe the question should rather be: why is the US handling China differently?

A) We like the toys.

B) We already get occasional shipping containers full of Chinese illegal aliens sneaking into the country. We don't want them to be armed and trained soldiers too.