Well, commercial war rather than physical war. But my view has been that, in a MAD world with a surplus of nuclear weapons, wars were now being fought with trade rather than bombs. At least, that was my view until recent events have shown that Western “leaders” may have to turn to violent war since they have been losing the trade wars for more than two decades.
Be that as it may, here is a fascinating sidenote from an article in Asia Times – just a few sentences in a much longer piece noting how China has responded to the Usual Suspects trying to use trade embargoes to punish China’s behavior in Xinjiang in far-eastern China. Would that we in the West had rulers as smart as those in China!
Blowbacks from Ukraine war will be deadly serious - Asia Times
"China counters US sanctions on Xinjiang
But sure enough, the Biden administration has tried, by banning the import of cotton from Xinjiang. In response, China has mandated that all face masks for export must be made with cotton from Xinjiang.
Biden has also forbidden the import of any products made in Xinjiang. In response, China has consolidated all its rare-earth mining companies into one holding company and registered it in Xinjiang.
The US can probably get along without masks from China but will find it a real challenge without rare-earth metals and minerals. There’s a Chinese saying: “For every ploy, there is (always) a counter.”