Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping sign economic deal in latest demonstration of ‘friendship without limits’

This is salvageable
The question is whether that is worth it
China is signaling to the West that its de-coupling (post-covid) will come at a price
China still would prefer the Western markets because Russia’s GDP is that of Italy not the G7
Russia needs China. The sanctions. contrary to the rhetoric dismissing them are working on Russia.
Russia can’t fix imported cars, can’t fix its tanks, can’t supply its army properly and people run into similar problems. Can’t fix your BMW or Toyota. Can’t fix your furnace or TV
This gives China a huge opportunity to back fill this shortage and do a fast export run in exchange for cheap energy that Russia provides
Russia also has problems maintaining its oil infrastructure as its Western maintenance and development crews left.

China wanted to do a Mussolini Hitler run along Putin.
Like in WWII Italy went for Abyssinia while Hitler and Stalin went for Poland, Hitler for Czechoslovakia, etc..
Seeing Russia getting stuck in Ukraine, it is now playing a longer game.
It wants to put Taiwan back into the planning phase, but still determined to do it.

Usually the West keeps on of these creepy empires on the backburner using trade.
Now it has a choice to go back to Chinese trade or find ways to punish China more.
The other reason the West is moving away from China is that its market is shrinking.
It’s not 2002 anymore and China is now in demographic decline. Not as badly as Russia but the process has started and adjusting to it is going to be a challenge. Especially if economic output shrinks.
Chinese labor is now more expensive than Mexican labor.
For the USA or Canada this is a simple shift to move their manufacturing to Mexico and home, creating a zone where things (esp high tech things like cars and computers) will be made on both sides of the border. A process that became too expensive with China. And unreliable as covid proved that China is willing to play hardball and even steal Western products if feeling the need for it.

To prevent war you need deterrence
That was the Reagan doctrine, the Trump doctrine, starting with Teddy Roosevelt.
Democrats, especially the America hater types always deconstruct the military to save for commie crap to spend on.
Biden adds to that weak posture by being who he is and by his Afghanistan debacle.
The way to deter Russia is with a strong NATO. and a strong USA.
Also a strong and well armed Ukraine. Because Ukraine will be the West’s border patrol with Russia.
Failure to build on this state of play will weaken NATO, make Russia more belligerent and force the likes of Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia. the Baltics to form their own allied block (like they did centuries ago) to deter Russia. That alliance may be known to the anti-Jihadis as the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth which stretched from the Baltics all the way to Odessa.
This is the force that rescued the Habsburg Empire (and all of Europe) from the Ottomans in Vienna, in 1683.
Turkey is not mentioned now but that too is a factor in all of this. To those in the Balkans, the worry is not just over Russia but also over Turkey. Erdogan is with us now. For now.
He too is watching this unfold and if he were to see the West Abandon Ukraine he too will start getting more nostalgic about the Ottoman Empire. NATO kept Turkey from invading Greece for decades.
It’s dissolution would mean rivers of blood and fire all over Europe again.
So these idiots like Tucker and two headed snakes like BDS Tulsi, the Squad and the MacGregors are either out of their minds or serving sinister interests.
There has always been a faction in the West (used to be on the Left but is now also a bit on the right) that believes that to have peace and stability in Europe 30-40 % of it has to be handed to Russia. To keep the Yalta crime of FDR alive and to abandon the most pro-American region in the world.