It is one thing for China to threaten one country, another for it to risk war with whole region.

[tahasozgen]

There is a sentence that I cannot understand thoroughly. The sentence has been taken from The Economist, June 17th 2023.

Paragraph is about security issues between America and China. America is trying to take precautions against China.

China also faces growing uncertainty. It is one thing for China to threaten one country, another for it to risk war with the whole region.

I do not understand the sentence "It is one thing for China to threaten one country, another for it to risk war with the whole region. ". Google translate translates this to my mother tongue, however, I need affirmation.

Can I paraphrase the sentence with the paragraph below?

China is threatening a country. This is proposition one. China is risking war with whole region. This is proposition two. Proposition one and proposition two is different with each other.

 

[5jj]

"It is one thing for China to threaten one country, another for it to risk war with the whole region."

The idea here is that China threatening one country is a situation that is possible to imagine, live with. However, China risking war with the whole region is a very different thing; it is far more serious.