[Sirius Lee]

And their oil supplies are shrinking.

What actions did Japan take when their oil supplies were embargoed by the U.S.?

[DIRTYSECRET]

What did the Argentine generals do when the protests got too hot to handle?

[Jonty30]

The Germans invented Fanta.

[desertsolitaire]

The Chicoms may well come to feel that a hot war is better than sitting in a depression of their own making

[joshua c]

there was an oil embargo

cuz japan invaded china

im not seeing the parallel

[T.B. Yoits]

What actions did Japan take when their oil supplies were embargoed by the U.S.?

Japan had citizens who believed the Emperor was divine.

Japan also didn't have a one-child policy. With China's one-child policy, a Chinese soldier knows they would be dying for no one; not their brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, nieces or nephews - because they don't exist.

[BroJoeK]

MtnClimber: "And their oil supplies are shrinking."

Sirius Lee: "What actions did Japan take when their oil supplies were embargoed by the U.S.?"

Japan's "Co-prosperity" sphere goals at 1942 peak:

China's situation today is in no way comparable to Japan's in 1941.
Japan in 1941 was much worse off than China is today:

1. Japan in 1941 had:
   • More than a year's worth of oil in reserves
   • But no internal sources and no suppliers after the American & Dutch oil embargoes
   • Japan's economy did not need much oil, but its military could not function without oil for warships, airplanes, tanks & trucks, etc.
   • US/Dutch oil embargoes gave Japan's military about a year to seize more oil or shut down operations.
   • Japan's economy needed far more than just oil:
     Japan's "Greater East Asia Co‑Prosperity Sphere" needed a long list of raw materials -- oil, iron, tin, bauxite, rubber, cotton, rice, sugar, coconut, timber, quinine, hemp for rope & specialty fibers -- to be secured through conquests & colonizations.
     So, oil was just one among many Japanese reasons for making war.

   China's global friends & allies today (in red):

   

2. China today has:
   • 85% of China's energy is not from oil, but rather from other sources like coal, nuclear, hydroelectric & renewables.
   • ~50% of China's oil imports come from Persian Gulf countries, however not all of that oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
   • About half of Persian Gulf oil still reaches global markets via pipelines to ports on the Red Sea and elsewhere.
   • China consumes ~16 million barrels of oil/day and its current oil shortfall is around 3 million barrels per day.
     China's strategic oil reserves total circa 1.4 billion barrels, meaning they have around 460 days of supply before things start getting a little tight.
   • But even modest reductions in oil consumption -- and conversion to alternate energies (i.e., electric cars) -- can extend their reserves' days of supply significantly.

Bottom line: in 1941, after the US/Dutch oil embargos, the Japanese had no good options, but in 2026, Chinese have many good options to survive & prosper without resorting to war.
Also, unlike 1941, the US has not embargoed oil or anything else to China.
So the US blockade of the Hormuz Strait could end in days or weeks with no further economic harm done.