Will Xi abandon Putin, or risk all to save a feckless ally?
It is finally dawning on Beijing that Moscow is losing this war and could suffer a catastrophic defeat.
China’s Xi Jinping faces an excruciating choice. He can stand back and allow Vladimir Putin to lose the war in Ukraine, leading to the downfall of his key strategic ally. That would risk the emergence of a Western-leaning government from the ruins of defeat.
It would be the end of Xi’s revisionist grand plan to end American hegemony and rewrite the rules of the global order. It might also be the political end of Xi himself.
The Telegraph London
Subscribe to gift this article
Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.
Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?
Introducing your Newsfeed
Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.
Find out moreRead More
Latest In Foreign affairs & security
Fetching latest articles