Beijing confesses that it fears Washington will forget about Putin and go all out against the Asian giant. The balance between neutrality in the war in Ukraine and the partnership with Putin had been the prevailing script embraced by Chinese diplomats.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi reportedly told the EU that Beijing views a Russian defeat in Ukraine as unacceptable, fearing it would allow the US to concentrate on China. Despite China's official neutrality,

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the European Union’s top diplomat that Beijing can’t accept Russia losing its war against Ukraine as this could allow the United States to turn its full attention to China,