Wonder if Japan has a chance of reclaiming its (never formally ceded) Northern Territories (“Kuril islands”), or whether China will occupy them specifically to prevent this.
this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2025
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I posted this already in another thread, but it fits here also.
In December 2024, a video was circulating on Chinese social media that shows how China should conquer parts of Siberia up to lake Baikal.
AI Generated Thumbnail. No thanks, not reading that.
Putin has driven Russia in a really bad situation. His army is currently unable to conquer Ukraine. He lost most of the old soviet stockpile of tanks, airplanes and equipment. It looks like his air defense is broken and Ukraine is bombarding his refineries on a weekly basis. And he has lost so many people. We can also guess that the majority of his army and his air defenses are currently in Ukraine.
If China really wants to take russian land there is not much that Putin can do against it except to use his nuclear weapons.
And that's just the military perspective. Economically, things are unlikely to look much better.
I think it was another clever move by the Chinese: Russia's abandonment of trade with Europe has made it very dependent on China. Sooner or later, they will be able to pick up the pieces - bankrupt assets at bargain prices, so to speak.
except to use his nuclear weapons.
Which might not be properly maintained. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Might‽‽‽ I can almost guarantee those were the first casualties of the corruption that is endemic in the Russian government and military.
i rember this scene of the Chernobyl mini series:
"Ah its only 3.5(unit of radiation) we don't need to worry!
But the testing device they had could only go as far as 3.5... The actual level was around a factor of 100 or so...
3.6 roentgen. Not great, not terrible.
Those soviet era devices still work I bet. I wonder if any fascists are using them...
I guess you already know what I, as a German have to say regarding Kaliningrad/Konigsberg -
Tap for spoiler
Please keep that shithole for yourself, we don't want it
Fun fact: Russia offered Königsberg to Germany in the 90s. Germany declined. They offered it to Poland next, which also declined.
If, however, it is cleansed of orcish contamination, the topology of its bridges should be restored to what it was in Euler’s time, and it should be placed on the UNESCO world heritage register as such.
Other than that, making it Czechia’s Baltic port sounds sensible.
but imagine turning the hole place into a hans im glück
let_them_fight.gif
They're not gonna fight. This one is over before it started, Russia is already well along the path to becoming a Chinese client state.
You're joking about WW3.
I also make jokes about climate change. Not because I don't think it's real, but because I am powerless to do anything about it and humor is my sole way of coping with anything.
WW3 is USA against China. This post is about the contingency plan to prevent the US from controlling China's northern border.
You sure it won't be Europe and China against America?
That seems a bit of a stretch in terms of geopolitical cooperation, and if we are going off nuclear arsenal concentrations and overall military budgets, it would likely end up with the majority of WWIII's damage coming from the US and China regardless.
Oddly I could maybe see Trump siding with Russia and the EU siding with China.
Give st Petersburg to Ukraine
Finland.
Along with Karelia
I doubt that China will try to break up Russia. I do think that China will aim to establish long-run Russian dependence on China.
If Winnie The Pooh could do us all a solid and stop supporting Russia for a goddamn second, they could easily take over the 1M km2. What's Russia going to do?
While china sides with russia, China still wants the Russia, Europe, and the US draining money and resources in Ukraine and not paying attention to taiwan or its other territorial ambitions
This is a contingency plan. China must be interested in maintaining Russia as a buffer at its northern border.
Doesn't the author know that the West is doing the same in Ukraine?
A buffer at its northern border? A buffer from what? Polar bears?
A systemic rival who could use it as a staging ground like they used Iraq's neighbors. Using Korea alone would be too defendable.