"Because that would be totally devastating to our plans for Taiwan."

💩

That is a startlingly weak position for China to be in.

It still baffles me how people manage to justify China's position on Russia. Sure it's "geopolitics" but if you take a look at domestic propaganda in China itself it's certainly much more than that.

Check out videos of what Ukrainians deal with while living in China - its down right disgusting how brainwashed Chinese are equating Zelenskyy to the likes of Hitler in Ukrainian's faces and thsse are just normal people in apolitical contexts like nurses in hospitals. It's absolute insanity.

Sure they can

Implying that the US could be too focused on Russia right now to help Taiwan defend against a Chinese invasion sounds like wishful thinking considering how little they are doing to help Ukraine.

If this is true, the EU better be figuring out how to change that price calculus for them. Which makes me doubt an open admission actually did happen, since China would understand the possibility for blowback.

Hey well maybe that would have been a good consideration to make before tying themselves to the outcome by tacitly (and directly) supporting Russia for profit in the first place. When your fortune is dependent on the eradication of millions of people, by choice, you deserve to lose, and can go kick rocks for all I care. Slava Ukraine.

As a side note: there is speculation that China may be approaching a change of leader due to Xi experiencing health issues (not a change of leadership in the wider sense - the collegial system of the CCP is considered to be functioning).

Thus, it may be impossible for the Chinese foreign minister to be fully confident of what China's policy will be in the future.

Obviously, China views it as unacceptable for Russia (its ally and soon enough, practically its vassal) to all-out lose. (The easiest way to not lose, of course, is not starting a war, but that train is long gone and behind the hills.)

Prolonging the war does not eliminate this risk well, however - exhaustion could spread in Russian society and morale could collapse despite the state spewing its propaganda, or the economy could collapse. So, simply propping up Russia by letting them buy the goods they shouldn't be getting is not a very elegant solution. Direct interference on behalf of Russia would lead to open hostility with the EU, which is currently ambivalent about China.

What remains is nudging Russia to negotiate. But Putin is hard-headed and only willing to negotiate Ukraine's surrender, on terms which Ukrainians will laugh out of the door.

As for the US being able to focus on China, well I guess they're a bit concerned about it, but given the mental and organizational capability of the current US leadership, I don't think Chinese analysts are particularly worried.

Sure you can.

China has chosen to be the enemy the west and rules based order then.

Ahh, so Trump gets his orders from the Chinoruskie empire...

For now. Ideally they lose in a few years once China has a better position

any sociological doctorates in here? What does it say about the state of the ruZZian war, when chinas FM weighs in on their vision for the war?

What Confucious say about rainchecks?

Short notice that kyivindependent.com is certainly not neutral on this.

Maybe they'll choose a wiser position, next time. Their finding out stage of the Fuck Around, Find Out cycle does not constitute an emergency or any impetus for action on the part of the West