If you were Comrade Xi and duly noted the performance of the Russian army what would you be more likely to do? Would you attack a well defended Taiwan across 90 miles of open ocean? Or would you be wondering if all those locally produced ships ,planes and huge army of China, though combat untested, have the ability to seize Russia’s rich, underpopulated Far Eastern Asian Pacific territories and the treasure house of Siberia.
Suspect if Russia did not have nuclear weapons, it would be much smaller.
More than one prognosticator has opined that Russia is pulling back in order to use nukes or fuel air bombs.
Made sense at first but their troops have pulled back 50+ miles, if these tales can be believed. Seems like a strange tactic.
Russia without nukes is not using rubles anymore, and may not be speaking much Russian as an official language.
And many fiction books have included China actively taking Siberia, instead of just a passive encouragement of “refugees” and foreign guest workers in Siberian towns.
Play it safe, turn off all the tough talk, and take no provocative action until world affairs cool down. China is not going to be stupid for the convenience of others.