agreed.
A properly built US/Russia alliance could have easily kept China in check and from gaining the power they have.
Those thinking that a Russian/Chinese alliance wasn't inevitable are fooling themselves. Russia has chosen allies like China, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, etc., for the very simple reason that these are all gangster states and Russia is a gangster state.
And before people state, "but Russia sees itself as Western, and is PRO-Christian now!" No it's not. Only 7% of the population even attends church once a month. Russia targets non-ROC churches for a wide variety of discrimination and harassment. The Russian Orthodox Church has card carrying KGB Priests in charge of it, such as Archbishop Kirill--recently getting medals from Putin--despite his history as a KGB agent spreading Liberation Theology through the World Council of Churches.
A certain subset of conservatives, eager for water in the desert, have taken Russian propaganda aimed at the right-wing at face value without bothering to check beneath the veneer.