China wishes to replicate Ukrainian crisis in Taiwan

China: The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has surprised China's leadership, which is weighing the costs and consequences of any future use of force to gain control of Taiwan.

According to Policy Research Group, China's independent refiners are secretly buying Russian oil at deeply discounted prices during the ongoing Ukraine conflict in order to avoid US sanctions.

Furthermore, according to POREG, Russia purchased 9,950 metric tonnes of alumina from China in March, nearly ten times the amount purchased in the same period the previous year.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities are conducting a large-scale examination of the Chinese economy's stability in the face of sanctions related to cooperation with Russia.

Chinese firms are quietly assessing the risk of "secondary sanctions" if they continue to supply Russia with products that may contain US technologies.

According to CNN, China is reaching out to the US in an effort to prevent Chinese firms from being barred from the US stock market as a result of the sanctions.

"The bitter experience of the first 10-11 weeks of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has come as a surprise to China, and their leadership is assessing the costs and consequences of any future use of force to gain control over Taiwan," said CIA Director William Burns.

He went on to say that Chinese President Xi Jinping is "uneasy" because of the "economic uncertainty" and "reputational damage" caused by China's association with Russia's "brutishness" against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu expressed hope that the international community would stand by the Taiwanese government in the event of a Chinese invasion and impose sanctions on China in the same way that Russia was sanctioned.

On the other hand, countries that have traditionally taken a non-aligned approach to foreign policy have stayed away from the US campaign to economically isolate Russia, with most countries in South America, Africa, and Asia standing on the sidelines, according to media reports.

With the Ukraine conflict unfolding, the Chinese appear to have a first-hand assessment of the Western world's willingness to fight without boots on the ground.

Many in China appear to have the apparent motive of annexing the territory of a non-nuclear and smaller country. (ANI)