@pratik I'm stirring the Russian pot.

Actually, China is laughing right now. All of Russia's wealth in resources is in Asia yet Russia has squandered this and reinvested nothing there. Nothing shiney for the Far Eastern provinces or for the protectorate *stans. Whereas, China has been investing, schmoozing. So all China has to do is wait for 1. the *stans to switch allegience because Russia is too weak, (coming soon), 2. the internal breakup of the Russian empire (we're heading there) and just step in to restore order and essential services. It all could drop into China's lap.