[Goose]

eapons. We just need some unscrupulous arms dealers to buy it under the cover of some other country and divert it to Ukraine. I strongly suspect this is being tried. I also suspect China knows this. Question is, do they care?

I wonder about that.  I don't they care on the whole, but I have to think the Chinese are broadly concerned about Russia as a loose cannon.  How else would you feel about a country where one of the senior politicians states that they can annihilate the East and West Coast of the USA with four Satan missiles?  Whether you're their friend or foe, it's difficult dealing with heavily armed crazy people.

Unless of course you too are heavily armed crazy people. Seriously, I think China would prefer not to antagonize Russia but on the other hand might prefer Russia not be very successful on the world stage. A weak Russia may be a loose cannon but hopefully also an impotent one. A strong loose cannon is not a good thing for them. I think China would sell munitions to Ukraine (indirectly) if they could credibly claim they were scammed by their customer if Russia finds out about it.  There are lots of countries that use Russian howitzers. However, they usually have few of them and little cash to buy ammunition stocks. A big order should raise eyebrows in China. Probably not a good look.

[Goose]

eapons. We just need some unscrupulous arms dealers to buy it under the cover of some other country and divert it to Ukraine. I strongly suspect this is being tried. I also suspect China knows this. Question is, do they care?

I wonder about that.  I don't they care on the whole, but I have to think the Chinese are broadly concerned about Russia as a loose cannon.  How else would you feel about a country where one of the senior politicians states that they can annihilate the East and West Coast of the USA with four Satan missiles?  Whether you're their friend or foe, it's difficult dealing with heavily armed crazy people.

Unless of course you too are heavily armed crazy people. Seriously, I think China would prefer not to antagonize Russia but on the other hand might prefer Russia not be very successful on the world stage. A weak Russia may be a loose cannon but hopefully also an impotent one. A strong loose cannon is not a good thing for them. I think China would sell munitions to Ukraine (indirectly) if they could credibly claim they were scammed by their customer if Russia finds out about it.  There are lots of countries that use Russian howitzers. However, they usually have few of them and little cash to buy ammunition stocks. A big order should raise eyebrows in China. Probably not a good look.