The Chinese empire has been subject to unfair unilateral treatment for centuries. As foreign powers such as the Portuguese and the British sought to get their hands on this country's riches. This can be seen during the Opium Wars, which led to the colonization of the ports of Macao and Hong Kong, by the Portuguese and British respectively.
The military power exercised over China by foreign powers was replaced by the economic power of this same nations in the form of foreign investment that comes to China and sets up manufacturing sites that set unideal working conditions for Chinese locals at the expense of the enrichment of these businesses.
Our Queen was forced to sign the papers that authorized the United States to annex Hawaii with a pistol to her head and the threat of blood shed to her people. She was forced and imprisoned wrongfully, in her own royal palace. Had she not done that, her people would have been killed.