Originally Posted by
Asturias56
"Blockades" are often considered Acts of War - even by non interested parties
Absolutely, however the optics are a lot harder to deal with. It is easy to make the case for a kinetic response to China when Taiwanese civilians are being killed by rocket and air strikes, but would be very difficult to use force against blockading ships. Just the threat of the use of lethal force by the PLA against merchant shipping will be enough to stop virtually all commerce.
Non kinetic responses like sanctions are much harder to make effective as Ukraine has amply demonstrated.