Yes, China's treatment by every empire of note is the reason for the PRC's obsession with taking back every piece of land Qing China ever occupied.

> The war of Manchuria was in fact Russia and Japan fighting over a piece of China like two lions on the hide of a water buffalo that’s still walking upright.

In that metaphor, Japan was another water buffalo that was peacefully minding its own business, was told "you're next" by the lions, then shrugged and said "if you can't beat them, why not join them?"