Yes, most small countries don't matter much in a ww3 scenario and most will flip back and forth. But there are a few determined anti western countries in the world which soak up a significant amount of attention and military assets from the US. Just look at how many assets they have in west Asia, mostly because of Iran. Take that away and you free up a lot of resources to be used directly against China.
Firstly, the American military assets in the ME are there to protect America’s daddy Israel, not to guard against Iran. If Iran fell into a black hole tomorrow, those American military assets would still be needed due to Israel’s insatiable expansionistic nature, as they would immediately turn their sights to the next neighbour who’s lands they covet and make them the new big bad to justify invading them, taking their land and genociding their people.
Secondly, those American military assets in the ME are not going to be useless to America in the event of a direct war with China. Indeed, a huge factor in America’a wars of choice in the ME was its desire to develop a potential second front against China in the west. Those ambitions have not totally died off, and there is a high chance America will try to push/temp India into opening this second front, in which case it will use CENTCOM will be the key coordinator and facilitator
It might not be in the interest of the people of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia etc to be anti US, but if they're willing to participate in the struggle, it should be supported.
You got it backwards, it’s never been a case of China not being willing to support these countries so much as those countries (with the exception of NK) have basically lacked the will and foresight to properly invest to defend themselves.
There have never been a case where a country has come to China willing to buy Chinese arms at fair market prices and got turned away. The stories that are distorted in the western media are usually where some countries have come to beg for free or massively discounted Chinese weapons and got told to take a hike.
China has been willing to provide all of those countries with enormous and generous financial and trade support, which is what allows them to weather western sanctions. However China draws the line at bankrolling their military aspirations because it knows full well from all the financial aid and trade benefits it gives them that those countries can afford to arm themselves if they so choose. It’s the fact that they choose not to invest in their own defence that’s the core problem.
China doesn’t need a bunch of equivalent of NATO leeches who just want to free ride on a superpower’s military protection. If they want to turn themselves fully into Chinese vassals and allow China to chart their own domestic economic, industrial, diplomatic and cultural policies like the EU is an American sock puppet, then maybe that’s worth China considering it, but otherwise they can go take a hike.
Indeed, many of those same countries goes out of their way to show they have nothing to do with China militarily to appease America, to show that they are not seeking to be part of China’s NATO, so the feeling is very much mutual. And this is where it get hilarious that many of the same liberal cucks who jump up and down now about China’s ‘inaction’ are the same ones who used to jump up and down at any hint of expanded military cooperation between their countries and China. So much so they might as well be part of the CIA’s bot army, which many blatantly are.
This is where the price of America’s move against Maduro might now be paid. Because in the past, a lot of those fence sitting countries and even countries who are already on America’s shitlist think that so long as they don’t get too close to China they won’t draw America’s irk enough to be attacked. So much so many of them actively chose non-Chinese weapons to prove they are not in league with China to America. Now that line of reasoning have been totally shattered you might actually see a surge in sales of Chinese weapons as a lot of those countries might suddenly start to feel incredibly exposed not that their illusions about what will keep them safe from American predation have been shattered.
Venezuela might turn from a distraction of American forces and politics to a success story if sanctions disappear and there's massive oil investments. Making more people around the world wish for an American coup in their country.
That’s an almighty if, and incredibly unlikely to happen in reality because America is loosing the economic contest.
To make Venezuela the fairytale success story you suggest will require enormous, sustained investment from America, who frankly doesn’t have the money. Even if they beg, borrow and steal the funds for such a grand project, it will be suicidal domestically because your average struggling American family one slip away from living on food stamps and on the streets will be outraged that American taxpayers funds are being used to turn Venezuela into a Latina paradise while they struggle with rising prices and stagnant wages and increasing unemployment.
What is far more likely to happen is that either nothing will change substantially and a new figurehead takes over, or American multinationals goes in and starts to strip mine the whole country and the lives of ordinary Venezuelans get worse than ever as their government shuns trade with China to appease their new American overlords, in which case a coup or armed general uprising is all be inevitable. And it they are amenable, China can and will arm them.
This is where China’s long term strategic planning is unparalleled. It doesn’t seek one person or one government as the be all and end all of a nation. Indeed, it’s almost inevitable that if the people in charge are incompetent fools, they will get toppled sooner or later. From a long term strategic POV, is far better that such incompetent incumbents flip to the Americans and you join in the inevitable popular uprising, which will take very little effort to nudge into anti-American as well if America actively supports its puppet in charge, and you get to take over the country in partnership with a new,
vibrant, hungry and wildly popular leadership who now probably hates the Americans more than you. That’s the kind of people who are worthy of Chinese military support. And China has the patience to wait for such allies to emerge rather than tie themselves to the sinking ship of unpopular and incompetent incumbents.
