Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping will rest until they see their respective flags flying over Ukraine, and over Taipei in Xi’s case. However, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has not been quick or decisive like he hoped. Instead, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has managed to unite NATO against Putin and extend a war nearly 2 weeks that was expected to last a couple of days. As a result, Russia’s invasion has been expensive and debilitating to their economy. European countries are now willing to spend more money on their own defense, and Xi Jinping has to determine if Putin’s blatant war crimes are harmful to China’s credibility after they decided to back him. Not to mention, the West has been committing economic suicide in the name of “climate change.” China has been thriving by using coal-fired plants. You can bet China is paying attention and taking notes.