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Exactly. I would be very suprised if this is driven by anything other than pragmatic self interest.

• acdha 5y ago
  At the very least, I’d be surprised if they weren’t renegotiating eye-watering rates: it’s not like Russia has many options and I suspect the Chinese government would like Putin to collapse and be replaced with someone better for business.
  • octoberfranklin 5y ago
    I suspect the Chinese government would like to conquer Taiwan, especially if they could do so as part of a multi-front world war in which they weren't the one who shot Archduke Ferdinand. No matter which way it turns out, they'd prefer that history remember the whole conflagration as something started by Russia rather than by China. Putin is definitely getting a holiday card from Xi this year.
    • acdha 5y ago
      That seems like a stretch — the interest is certainly there but I don't think there's any path to Taiwan which isn't a transparent “you were tied up with Russia” pretext, and there's a lot more precedent now for a large chunk of the world's economy being willing to sacrifice money to punish aggression. They just don't seem to have the appetite for risk that Putin does — spread money around, build soft power while locking up valuable resources, etc. and you get most of the same results they care about without bloodshed.