We were willing to risk a nuclear war over that exact issue:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis
We over threw the government in Nicaragua twice, because of that reason, we invaded Grenada for that reason, we will pressure folks willing to let the Chinese build any sort of dual use facility in the Pacific Rim (China has been waiting to expand their reach in the Pacific for a while).
So while we talk about Russia needing to respect the “sovereignty” of a foreign state and the Russians needing to accept this, we and Australia are pushing on the Solomon Islands to reject a Chinese deal that would have them build a government installation there.
A deal that for the Solomon Islands would mean a lot of jobs, massive investment in infrastructure, Chinese personnel bringing in money, and of course a hefty up front payment...
This war in Ukraine is the West having “lied,” breaking the Minsk and Budapest agreements, the US withdrawing from the Ballistic Missile Treaty, breaking from what was promised at the end of the Cold War: No NATO Eastward expansion into former Soviet Republics. This is a war where we are hypocrites. It's a war purely motivated by economics for us with ZERO argument for our own national security. It is a war where you have arguments on both sides, for Ukraine and Russia specific to who has a legitimate right to the land and the human rights abuses etc.
This is probably from a Just War concept, the worst conflict we have been party too since WWII.
We are using force purely in furtherance of economic interests (national security has ZERO relevance), fighting using mercenaries and guerrilla fighters we trained for years (by lying and breaking the Minsk agreement) that are in part “whack-jobs” like the Azov unit: https://www.google.com/search?q=azov+nazi&newwindow=1&sxsrf=ALiCzsbTjfDl1OyQjwfb6xv3D_lDr7B5FA:1659629329191&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjN5f-Eya35AhVgFlkFHbxHAKcQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1600&bih=781&dpr=1
Read an article about the Iraq war (2004 - 2011) in the German news where they mention Blackwater. The spin will be how horrible, illegal and bad mercenaries are, how dare the US employ them? Now read an article today about how you have a US mercenary firm operating in the Ukraine (neutrality): https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/ukraine-krise-400-us-soeldner-von-academi-kaempfen-gegen-separatisten-a-968745.html
In fact, right under the nose of the Germans, you have the Ukrainian government on their official websites (at least they did for a while - some like Austria did protest about this) recruit! Do you think that is news?
Today you have an >7,000 man strong mercenary army operating in Ukraine, and no one says anything - not about the KIA, the ones captured by the Russians... How can that be? Real simple, everyone is on board, US and EU governments, US and EU economic interests, and hence the corporate MSM in the US and Europe.
If anything, this war tells us one thing: The West no longer sees Russia as a viable military global power outside of their nuclear forces.
We would have never dared done this had we thought they can seriously bite back. However, IMHO that may have been an underestimation of the Russians especially long term.
Today we tiptoe with the Chinese for that reason. We are very careful, measured, and we stay within certain boundaries when dealing with them. We do not just sell any weapon system to Taiwan, not even our leaders travel there without de facto Chinese approval... The war in Ukraine is very telling about who we really are: what really drives our political apparatus, how far we are willing to go for money, and what our word/promises are worth.
The character of a nation or a person are not seen by how you treat those above you, rather how you treat those below you. Once we saw an opportunity, weakness, we went for it - at least Biden did. What is presented as a war about human rights, sovereignty and democracy is really Machiavellian leadership at its finest.
False Equivalency Fallacy! Neither Russia nor China are "world powers." Only the U.S. Navy is a true "white water navy." Only the U.S. is capable of projecting power to any desired spot on the Earth.
Also: False MORAL Equivalency! What America wants should not be regarded as on a par (of equal merit) with what Russia or China want.
Regards,