It is true that the international power that the PRC has amassed is a blessing and a curse to them. But ultimately they are to gain a more beneficial standing in their relationship with Russia whether or not they win their war with Ukraine.
Should they win and annex the eastern half of Ukraine, while making the rump state a puppet government, then their standing in the west will have been broken beyond repair, not that there was much to begin with even before the war. The devastating economic sanctions thrown against them will be hard, if not impossible, to recover from and they can't expect the west to forgive them, since there isn't much of a bargaining to be had in their hands, outside natural resources. Resources which can, if necessary, be gained from elsewhere. The domestic armaments industry will also be barred from conducting business with a variety of clients and suffer from that.
The war however has startled Europe into action and back into military spending, bolstering their own forces, modernizing them, injecting tons of money into R&D and bringing it a renewed prominence in the political landscape. In essence, Russia has created a new competitor on the arms market, although it will take a while for that to manifest itself. This is very generally speaking of course, and gives a macro picture greatly lacking in detail.
How much longer the russian populace itself is willing to tolerate Putin and his oligarch cronies is another matter entirely, but with the war going this badly and the economy and finances in such trouble I doubt that it will be for much longer. Naturally, average russians will shift the blame for the economic decline on the sanctions and western hostility, but I doubt that they'll forget that it was Putin's decision to go to war and allow for the west's actions in the first place.
China is set to profit from the russian loss of face and power that is currently happening, profiting massively of it at that. The western market will be too restricted for Russia and China can use it to their advantage without a worry in the world. From what I can see, the chinese media is only giving nominal support to the ukrainian venture, barely enough to negate any accusations of not supporting their "alliance". The CCP is very skillful at quietly observing the happenings of the world and making good strategic decisions to benefit them, Trump and the 4 year long hostage taking of the media was a golden time for their global interests and quiet pursuit of them, and that's what they're doing now with Russia. If they'll manage the balancing act without unforeseen complications though, only time will tell.
Anyhoo, those are my thoughts on the matter, which really isn't saying a lot. I'm only an interested layman and my opinions should all be taken with a grain of salt, and any corrections & thoughts on the matter are welcome and appreciated!
