Austin Ramsey

That's right.

The Chinese have criticized the war on several levels.

They've criticized the fact that it was launched as negotiations were still taking place.

They criticized the attacks that killed much of the Iranian leadership.

But yes, at the same time, China has not done much more than provide rhetorical support for Tehran.

They're in a somewhat difficult position.

China is very reliant on oil imports, and it buys most of Iran's oil.

At the same time, it also buys a lot of oil from other countries in the region.

And so they can't be too forceful on Iran's side without alienating other countries in the region that have been attacked by Iran in recent days.

So China, while overtly is very critical, privately, I think they're very flexible and they are waiting to see what happens, waiting to see who ends up running the country after the fighting stops.

That's right.

There are benefits to China in this war.

They get to see how the U.S.

presses this campaign, what the U.S.

is bringing to the fight against Iran, and they will take note of that.

The U.S.

is also, as we've reported, using an incredible amount of munitions.

the sort of munitions that would be important for a fight with China in the Pacific over, say, Taiwan.

And so it puts the U.S.

on the back foot for a period, perhaps years, to rebuild that arsenal.