[seanw444]

I don't understand why people are so scared specifically about Putin's nukes. He's not the only murderous dictator with a big red button, but he's the only one I hear people worrying about. Xi + the CCP is just as much, if not more, of a threat.

And due to the way things are going, they're testing the waters in cooperation and friendship.

[unethical_ban]

For all of China's faults, the country seems less reliant on hard power for survival. Russia is a country with three tricks only: fossil fuels, nuclear weapons and destabilizing democracies.

China is a manufacturing and technology powerhouse.

[awb]

There have been decades of tension, proxy wars and explicit threats of mutual nuclear destruction between Russia and the West.

[avaika]

Unlike Xi, Putin and his propaganda machine has literally threatened to use the nuclear power if they have to. Multiple times.

Yes, it is considered as a bluff. And most likely it is. However so was all the military "exercises" before the invasion to Ukraine in 2022. Only a few really believed it, unfortunately it actually happened.