China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly told the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas on July 3 that the country cannot afford for Russia to lose the war in Ukraine amid fears the U.S. would shift focus towards Beijing, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, citing sources familiar with the conversation.
You make a good point. I see it as the U.S. being in a Cold War type situation, but as you note, there are already regional conflicts. However, even during the Cold War the U.S. was involved in conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, where it saw itself as trying to stem the growth of Communism being spread by the Soviet Union.