Should China Invade Siberia?

Peter Zeihan 4 min

Invading Russia is never as easy, it sounds. No sign that that is happening right now.

  • Boris Yeltsin

Key points

  • 0:00

    The single most valuable thing in Siberia is the oil and natural gas.

  • 0:00

    Western companies operate the key fields, not the Russians.

  • 0:00

    China lacks the technology to operate these facilities without Western consulting.

  • 1:02

    The agricultural potential of Siberia is too low to support a large population.

  • 1:02

    Russia maintains the world's single largest nuclear arsenal.

  • 1:02

    Russia would nuke Chinese cities if invaded, rather than fight conventionally.

  • 1:02

    China must sever the Trans-Siberian Railway to prevent Russian interference.

  • 1:02

    Cutting the railway at Tatarstan would isolate Siberia from European Russia.

Who and where

People · 1

  • Drawing of Boris Yeltsin

    Boris Yeltsin 1

    Soviet and Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (1931–2007)

    Photo 1

1. Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Boris Yeltsin)

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