Often times, I see the West trying to sell the carrot and stick approach but has it occurred to the West that maybe the Russians are not rabbits and carrots won’t work?
In case of a hot conflict with a peer or greater opponent, I expect the CCP to chicken out fairly quickly, which I wouldn't say about Russia. Other than that, they are just natural trade partners.
China’s geo-strategic thinking and approach is often misunderstood in the West. It is very, very wrong to think the CCP will chicken out (when the West is more likely to do so). Xi/Deng/Mao’s thinking is fundamentally different and there is some continuity in their approach — in an armed conflict, China’s leaders will seek off-ramps after the CCP achieved their goals. The problem : Can an American ally tolerate the wait? IMHO, America’s own allies will seek an off-ramp faster.
The PLA are willing to bear a high price in deaths to establish credibility — proved in the Korean War.
Detente and the Sino-Soviet split (assisted by Kissinger), deterred the Soviets from driving West. At that time, the Chinese were allied with the West and if NATO had gone to war with the Soviets, the Chinese would have gone to war on the side of the West. They are not chickens.
What do you mean, friends? It's a wholly transactional relationship.
True.
When the Western caricature a rising China and a possibly recidivist Russia, in this manner, this act strips away context of their common interest alignment. This is a geo-strategic mistake based on a lack of understanding of their often limited goals. Russian and Chinese coordinated flights into Japanese and Korean ADIZs demonstrate alignment and it serves its own purposes.
on Twitter: "BREAKING: US govt official Sen. Roger Wicker just said on live TV that the US would consider bombing Russian military assets & “rain destruction on Russia” -- AND use first-strike nuclear weapons. It’s unclear what he smoked before this interview. https://t.co/AFUPWABDGk" / Twitter
