JRL NEWSWATCH: “For China, arming Russia would be folly” – Washington Post
“Chinese leader Xi Jinping is considering sending lethal aid to Moscow’s forces in Ukraine. That would be a profound mistake.”
“… Until now, China has wisely kept its distance, paying lip service to its partnership with Russia while mostly adhering to Western sanctions. … Despite requests for weaponry … China has so far sent only nonlethal aid, such as helmets and body armor. At the same time, it has reaped the benefits of Moscow’s international isolation … buying cheap Russian oil no longer flowing to Europe and increasing two-way trade with Moscow. … Moscow’s disastrous, unprovoked invasion has exposed [] Putin’s regime … [as] tyrannical, corrupt and puffed up[,] [now] [b]ogged down in a war against an adversary with a third of its population and a tenth of its gross domestic product …. If [] Xi imagined [] Putin would be a formidable counterweight to … the United States, he should be disappointed. … Russia has become an albatross for China, and doubling down by arming the Kremlin’s inept forces would only taint China’s [globa] standing ….”