It has occurred to me that China wants Siberia enough to push Putin off the cliff.
Not that Siberia has historically belonged to China - a few hundred years out of thousands for a relatively small chunk of it. The Mongols have a better claim to Siberia and more. But the Chinese do want those resources.
I can just see China saying to Putin, “You should invade Ukraine. We got your back!”
And then sitting back and watching Russia get bogged down in ther own little “Vietnam conflict”. Except it wouldn’t really last very long.
That has to be in the back of Putten’s mind. Resources in Eastern Russia Vastly more beneficial to China than Taiwan would be.