Maybe I need to clarify a little bit. What I meant was that China definitely would not conspire with US to decide the fate of third-parties. The actual results or effects of those talks, with or without any concrete agreements, will shape the new world order. We don't know yet. But 50 years from now, history would tell us that it was USvsChina that actually defined the fork at the moment. It really doesn't matter China wants it or not. As someone once said, that someone does not believe in anything is in itself a form of belief or religion. Whatever China chooses to do or not to do now will, one way or another, be counted as a significant factor that is shaping the world now.
Okay, sure, I would agree with what you are saying.
My view is that, we can just focus on one word, and that single word would be trajectory.
China's trajectory is kind of known, and its trajectory would remain unchanged.
This European war is kind of like an isolated event.
China is not a combatant, so its trajectory should not change, and its relationships outside of Europe should not change one bit. The BRI was a bet on the global south, where everyone will want to collect on the win-win.
Sure, we can say that this is another important point in world history, this war, and this Rome meeting, but it was going that way anyways.
This war, like the pandemic, probably will be thought of accelerators of current day trends, rise of China, rise of global south who finally gets a bigger voice, decline of traditional imperialistic powers.