China Benefits from US War in Iran
China is studying the US war against Iran to learn lessons for possible future conflicts, including with Taiwan. As Bloomberg writes , this allows Beijing to track American strategies and military capabilities, as well as to exploit the situation where the US is forced to divert resources from the Indo-Pacific region to the Middle East.
Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: Sergei Bobylev / Sputnik Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
Chinese authorities are not openly criticizing the US yet, but are already monitoring opportunities. For example, influential Chinese commentator Hu Xijin noted that the war showed the Chinese the limited capabilities of the American army against Iran, which was already weakened by sanctions. He also remarked that while some American elites still speak of confrontation with China, the real capabilities of the Americans to achieve success in the Taiwan Strait are questionable.
Thus, in the long term, the war could bring advantages to the second US rival after Russia, which benefited from rising oil prices and weakening sanctions.
It is also important for China that the US is rapidly depleting its ammunition stocks. American forces had to use expensive interceptor missiles against Iranian shelling, and inexpensive Shahed-136 drones forced them to expend defense systems designed for more complex weapons.