“That’s indeed a big loss of influence for the U.S. in the region and could actually shift the balance of power, given Beijing’s alliance with Russia.”
But you don’t understand. According to the Neocons and their Cheerleaders it’s: Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine...
...and some future Republican Administration will deal with the damage from that policy.
(but not in our lifetimes - as people in other countries remember...remember everything, just as MBS showed this week when he jettisoned the US for Iran/Russia/China)
From the start I have been saying that whoever “wins” the war in Ukraine, China will be the real winner and they know it (already they are winning on a number of fronts thanks to our leaders’ foolishness).
Right at the very beginning of the Russian invasion last year, an influential academic at a hawkish Chinese think tank used a Chinese idiom to describe it:
“The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind”
(figurative meaning: “to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger”)
Then says “The bigger question that the United States is unwilling to face is, who is the mantis and who is the cicada?” China is obviously the oriole. So are we the cicada or the mantis? And which is Russia? Does it matter?
Have a look at a praying mantis attempting to capture a cicada:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V3A7tqJoVGs
As you can see, both are large insects. The mantis is strong, and intelligent for an insect, with amazing reach, but the huge, noisy, primitive cicada is also very strong, well-armored and has an enormous wingspan. Both are likely to be damaged or weakened in such a fight. Meanwhile, the oriole stalks from behind.
Link to essay by Chinese academic Chen Feng’s essay (you’ll have to run it through Google translate or Siri). Long, but well worth the read — and keep in mind it was written back at the beginning of March 2022):
https://m.guancha.cn/ChenFeng3/2022_03_02_628308