If your argument is that we ought to be much more harsh against China due to their treatment of their population, then yeah, that's fair. All the stuff you mention, and more, is pretty horrific and deserving of some kind of response.
However, historically, it doesn't seem like the imperial core enacts aggressive foreign policy purely for the benefit of the people in a country. Sanctioning China would be against the imperial core's geopolitical and financial interests at the moment, which means it won't happen, even though China's actions are ethically horrific. GP's "if" refers to if China does something which makes countries in the core actually sanction China.
If I'm wrong, please correct me, it would be interesting to see cases where the core enacts sanctions against its own geopolitical, ideological or financial interests in an attempt to benefit some suppressed group of people. I'm not an expert on the topic, just casually interested.
As with everything, there's nuance. But, yes, it's politically a lot harder to argue for sanctions that will have a significant effect on consumers/voters than those that will not.
However, historically, it doesn't seem like the imperial core enacts aggressive foreign policy purely for the benefit of the people in a country. Sanctioning China would be against the imperial core's geopolitical and financial interests at the moment, which means it won't happen, even though China's actions are ethically horrific. GP's "if" refers to if China does something which makes countries in the core actually sanction China.
If I'm wrong, please correct me, it would be interesting to see cases where the core enacts sanctions against its own geopolitical, ideological or financial interests in an attempt to benefit some suppressed group of people. I'm not an expert on the topic, just casually interested.