Russia and China relationship, going down ?

[727Sky]

Russia is running a high-stakes game re: China.

The Russian military has shrunk dramatically, but the size of the common border with China has not.  China's military is huge.  The only counter-balance that Russia has is a superior nuclear strike capability.

I understand there is already a fair amount of Chinese presence in Siberia because of economic activity.  If China decided to "sit" on the trans-Siberian railway to blackmail Russia, would Putin pull the nuclear trigger?

If that is a disturbing scenario . . . "because 2020".

Cheers

Remember a week or so ago when Russia said any inbound missile will be presumed to be nuclear armed and Russia would retaliate ? Many assumed it was more of a threat to NATO or the USA.. I think the majority was to let China know any hanky panky would not go unnoticed.