China might already regret palling around with Putin

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Bad Art Friend of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here.Today’s Agenda China may regret palling arou [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Bad Art Friend of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - China may regret [palling around with Putin](. - [Mutual assured destruction]( is back. - Biden may have [missed an opportunity](. - Ford is [now a hybrid](. Russia Is the Bad Autocrat Friend Throughout the global [democratic recession](, one of the big fears has been all the budding autocrats teaming up to be oppressive and nationalistic together, maybe kick some puppies along the way, as a treat. Even after famous autocrat admirer Donald Trump wounded this budding Axis of Unpleasantness by losing the White House, Vladimir Putin found a powerful new bestie in China’s Xi Jinping, a partnership [memorialized]( at the Olympics last month. But Xi might already be wondering if Putin is in fact a Bad Autocrat Friend (not to be confused with a [Bad Art Friend](). When Putin attacked Ukraine just after the Beijing Olympics ended, it was easy to [suspect]( Russia had coordinated the move with China. But evidence is piling up that [Xi might not have thought Putin would actually carry out]( this cockamamie invasion, writes Matthew Brooker. This might explain why China hasn’t exactly been cheering Russia’s unprovoked aggression. Lately it has even taken to [calling]( this a “war,” contra Putin, and tutting about the civilian casualties resulting from Russia’s frustrated army dipping into its well-worn cookbook of [atrocities](. As Clara Ferreira Marques has written, Russia’s recent behavior [violates]( some major tenets of Chinese foreign policy. China might think Russia can weather being an international pariah. As Matt Levine notes, companies and investors find [cutting ties with Russia to be complicated](. A think tank advising Xi [claims]( the West’s sanctions will blow up in its face. China can certainly help keep Russia afloat economically if it wants. Xi probably won’t be turning his Twitter avatar yellow and blue anytime soon. But at what point does the fact that China shares a border with a Bad Autocrat Friend, which has also self-sabotaged into a hobbled mess, start to affect how friendly Xi really wants to be?  Time to Dust Off Those Duck-and-Cover Videos There’s much to dislike about this war, one of which is the revival of Sting’s “[Russians](,” in which the bassist/marathon-sex-haver sings, “I hope the Russians love their children, too,” meaning he hopes they won’t nuke the world, for the kids. We all kind of forgot about the threat of nuclear war, and also Sting, for a while, though neither really went away. And both are back now. Hal Brands suggests this is actually a good reminder of the [importance of the U.S. maintaining its nuclear]( arsenal, which may be the only way to keep Putin and other demented monsters from having their way with the world. Of course, it’s also an incentive for other countries, including those run by demented monsters, to get their hands on their own nukes. As Andreas Kluth reminds us, Ukraine gave up its massive arsenal in the ’90s on the promise its sovereignty would be honored. Hey, it was the ’90s! We were forgetting about nuclear war, and also Sting. Now it [wishes it had those nukes back](, and other countries have surely gotten the message. Let’s hope the [YOUR NATIONALITY HERE] love their children, too. Further Ukraine Reading: - Russian soldiers are [hearing their own curse words used against them](, emblematic of the shame they must feel. — Leonid Bershidsky - Russia and the U.S. will [keep cooperating in space](, but only as long as they have to. — Adam Minter - Putin has given central bankers a [good excuse for going slowly on raising rates](. — Dan Moss The State of Biden’s Union In the middle of all this, President Joe Biden gave a State of the Union speech last night. It was a classic example of the genre, meaning it was a crushingly dull laundry list of policies and shout-outs, punctuated by a couple of [rowdies]( in the audience. Jonathan Bernstein doubts [we should have expected much]( more. On the other hand, Bloomberg’s editorial board calls this a [missed opportunity for Biden to pivot]( to new policy proposals that might win bipartisan support. Karl Smith suggests Biden should have offered [more ideas for fighting inflation](. Faye Flam warns he [might have overpromised on Covid]( progress.  Ramesh Ponnuru argues [Biden had little choice but to stick to a script]( that won him the presidency and suggests it might even work for him in the long run — though at the moment that seems doubtful. Telltale Charts Ford keeping its legacy car business and its [EV operations hitched together could slow the latter](, though the company kinda seems to know what it’s doing with EVs, writes Liam Denning. Investors [don’t give Target enough credit](, writes Andrea Felsted. Further Reading MBS is trying to liberalize Saudi Arabia while also [becoming even more authoritarian](. Good luck with that. — Hussein Ibish Ukraine is a stark reminder that [market forecasts are garbage](, even though they’re made by thoughtful people. — Jared Dillian ICYMI Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is [selling the Chelsea football club]( and some houses. Where are [the oligarchs’ yachts](? Russia’s [air force is missing](. Google wants [workers back in offices in April](. Kickers Ice-cream machine [hackers sue McDonald’s](. [Heavy metal and classical music]( have a lot in common. The history of [the horned rabbit](. The 25 best [Batman villains, ranked](. Notes:  Please send horned rabbits and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022