This is the Friends of History Debating Society.

I'm John Bachelors with Professor H.J. Mackender, International Relations, commenting on five

six capitals, points of view, Ukraine conflict to Beijing.

Professor, I list what I've been able to discern of China this week.

It's a continuation of failing policies or report about GDP growth in the fourth quarter

year over year that no one much believes.

The understanding is unemployment is running high.

The hospital system has either collapsed or is near to collapse.

The elites have access to vaccines that the general population does not.

At the same time reported that the death rate exceeded the birth rate for the first time

in many decades, suggesting of course that the projections are all accurate that China

will become an agent culture and lose out as most populace nation to India that is

not promising for any general secretary, especially Xi Jinping.

As terms of foreign policy, China remains linked to Moscow.

At the same time we're told, generally speaking, that its commitments to the Belt and Road

are there shadowly built or incomplete or underfinanced projects around the world now

pouring in with reports about how things were never going to be built or promises were

made and the money never showed up.

So your measure of Beijing mid-winter, given that what we don't know exceeds what we know.

Where are they in the Ukraine conflict?

Well, they, Mr. Xi is very fond of the idea of allying with Russia in order to defeat

and destroy an international system that doesn't favor regimes like his or Mr. Putin's.

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