If we had simply not screwed Japan at Versailles, we might have been able to convince them to stop at Manchuria, let the Chinese figure out their own problems, allied with Japan, France, and the British, and left Hitler and Stalin to pummel each other into oblivion. That would have been better for Europe, and better for Asia. But hindsight is always 20-20, and Wilson in 1919 was too concerned with his legacy (just like Obama 100 years later) to let something as simple as 5-5-3 get in the way of his wonderful (/s) treaty.
Indeed. That’s why I say that Woodrow Wilson did more damage to this country than any other President, and it’s not even close.
We were more concerned with the Japs getting the British and Dutch colonies in Asia, than China.