I think its C...lots of that kinda stuff was done in the attempt to stop communistic spread of influence.
Women vote around 1917 in New York. Some states had the right to vote before the 19th Amendment. Carrie Chapman Catt and suffragettes had convinced President Woodrow Wilson and other political leaders that women had the right to vote. ... The Nineteenth Amendment was signed on August 26, 1920.
China was itself an established empire and could not be conquered the same way as they did Africa and India.
What you are saying is basically equal to saying why not land in England (during that period) and turn everyone into slaves.
Since that is impossible, establishing spheres of influence allows major powers to break China from the inside.
The major powers of europe, Japan, and America ganging up on china during those days is the main reason behind China's firm foreign policy today.
