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One phone call from President Xi would end Russia's war, Finnish president says
(kyivindependent.com)
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Yeah, it might.
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/chinas-balancing-act-between-us-and-russia
But China also has no reason to do that, and some good reason not to. I bet that they won't.
China may not have a direct interest in the outcome of the war itself.
However, it does gain from Russia being dependent on China.
The reason that Putin has been willing to have that dependence is because China isn't actively aiming to oppose the invasion. All China has to do to gain here is, well, nothing.
For China, that's a pretty low-cost way to gain a bunch of influence in Asia. My guess is that China's goals probably look something like this:
Make sure that this doesn't turn nuclear (which would potentially affect China).
Don't have China become involved in the conflict.
Make use of the period of time where Russia is cut off from the West to extend short-run Russian dependence (like, obtaining substitute parts from China) to long-run dependence (tying Russia to Chinese systems and services) insofar as possible.
If China decides to act in concert with the West, then it gains nothing -- China probably doesn't care much what happens in Ukraine -- and loses this new influence in Russia, which Beijing probably does very much want.
It doesn't help China's now abysmal international reputation, most of the world hates them and for good reason. They also face incredible domestic challenges. I hope they crash and burn hard and soon.
Where? In europe their reputation wasn't good before, and I'm sure they don't care about their reputation on the "WestTM"