Warfare in which the defender is trapped in a position (such as a fort or castle) while the attacker bombards and/or barricades them from outside.
It's a barricade erected around a country to block the flow of goods and travel and finance, with the goal of subjecting civilians to economic hardship so they turn on their government. It's a siege, with the goal of creating enough pain within the country to encourage internal sabotage, revolt, and treachery.
Sanctions are warfare.
I just quoted a definition. Here, I'll quote from your link.
How does this not describe a sanctions regime? Obviously the sanctions on China are minor compared to other sanctioned nations, but look at the sanctions on Iran or Russia or Cuba or the Taliban regime. Encirclement, isolation, cutting channels of supply and reinforcement, and the goal in all those casrs is to induce the enemy into submission. Starvation isn't uncommon.
The sanctions are meant to hurt the enemy.