Indeed, Russia quietly prepared for this eventuality and they started the SMO on their own terms. The west, by contrast, just took their superiority for granted and didn't even see the need to prepare. Now we see how that's all playing out.

I'd argue that in case of China, the situation is far worse for the west because of just how dependent the west is on China. Cutting Russia out of the western economic system hurt, but it has been manageable so far. If there was a confrontation with China, then the west would be cut off from a lot of necessities that simply cannot be sourced elsewhere. My expectation is that it would lead to a rapid economic and societal collapse here in a very short order.