Xi said this recently ;"We firmly oppose the division of the...

Xi said this recently ;

"We firmly oppose the division of the region by so-called 'Indo-Pacific' strategies, and oppose the piecing together of an 'Asian NATO' through military alliances," he said,

A paralel being drawn between Europe and Asia AND west versus east .
The east being Russia and China .
The west being NATO and AUKUS (+allies)
He doesn't want to be restriced in the east as NATO is restricting Russian expansion in the west .

Russia is China's only major ally and Xi must have known of the invasion , given tacit support and likely asked that it was put off 'til after the winter olympics finished .
Not a good look to see your ally floundering militarily against a weaker opponent and having such a strong international reaction organised against it .

This won't halt China's ambitions to expansion of it's power but is bound to encourage caution about when and how that is achieved .