The West responded harshly to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine because they were increasingly aligned with the West. If Russia attacks a province that’s already Russian-aligned, it gets a finger wag, if they attack a nation that we’re actually invested in, it’s on like Donkey Kong.

As for whiteness... I don’t think there would just be a simple finger wag if China attacked Taiwan, I think that it would be a full-on proxy war and a diplo-economic disaster for the world.