Similarly, we helped Britain in WW II on terms that guaranteed America would displace Britain as the dominant world power after the war. There are Brits who still grumble over that, complaining that it was like taking all the cash from the pockets of a drowning man and demanding his bank accounts before we would haul him out of the ocean and agree to convey him to safety.
As for the effect on China of the Ukraine war, China's leadership was shocked and unsettled by the effectiveness of American and NATO weapons and the poor performance of the Russian military. Since China's military is modeled on Russia's, that does not token well for its performance against Taiwan. That has also encouraged Taiwan to take hope in its prospects for maintaining its independence -- with American help.
I grew up in the depths of the Cold War as well and the Soviets were clearly our enemies and had to be confronted. But the Ukraine? I have two military age sons and sorry they are not going to die for your war over that crap hole the Ukraine. It’s not a vital US security interest. For the defense of the USA-or a treaty obligation yes they would fight, but not another blundering Vietnam/Afghanistan bloodbath.
Again this is not WWII. Munich was a blunder but should have never come to that. If you want to talk WWII Hitler should have been confronted when he reoccupied the Rhineland. You can’t force every foreign policy situation into a WWII based solution in doing so you narrow your response options.