If China wanted to take over Russia instead of Taiwan, who’d stop him? Hitler made friends with Stalin too. China needs oil just like Hitler, and a little real estate for 1.4 billion people wouldn’t hurt.
“He comes to his end, with none to help him.”
Putin could be the last king of the beast state, he who “was, is not, and is to come.” Following the seven kings (of the USSR), he is of them, became not of them for a while, now is back to being of them.
He goes to his end (the lake of fire, perdition) with none to help him. This would argue that China stays out or in fact does choose to invade eastern Russia, although one would suspect there would be little hesitation in Moscow to nuke Chinese military facilities, probably no reason to nuke Chinese cities in that scenario, other than perhaps one or two obvious ones.
China could otherwise quite easily over-run eastern Siberia and perhaps even central-western Siberia although going that far would invite massive resistance better supported from the rear. Going beyond the Urals would not work for China, they are no Mongol horde. But that would all go nuclear pretty quickly, I would think. So if Xi sees it that way too, the tempting target will remain just that, a temptation. Perhaps something to exploit if the west and Russia suffer massive losses in a different nuclear exchange.
These are not good times to have a man like Biden at the top, probably just doing what unknown advisors are telling him to do and say. They are answerable to nobody except the top paymasters. They certainly don’t give a flying f___ about the average citizen of any western nation, as shown in the debacle unfolding in Ukraine, that will be us at some point if we don’t come to our senses and (a) enact election reform and or (b) take the vote away from those who have no clue.