American officials have described talks between China and the US as “intense,” following reports Russia asked China for military assistance.
ASPI’s Mark Watson says it has been “quite a significant shock” for China.
“It had a great deal of strategic certainty not that long ago and … now it’s forced to kind of take sides here, and Russia is really pressing China for more than just not being opposed to what it’s doing but to provide active support,” Mr Watson told Sky News Australia.
“And China, I think, is really in a very difficult position here; it doesn’t want to go prematurely to alienate the rest of the world, so it’s got some difficult choices.”