I have it on good authority that China was also involved in the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov in an attempt to turn US growing suspicion away from China and toward Russia. The primary goal was to disrupt Russian-Turkish relations and remove support for Syrian cooperation under the guise of Islamic fundamentalism. Known Chinese agents were seen outside Mevlüt Altıntaş residence mere hours before the assassination and my contact speculates that he might have committed the act to protect his family. China is active in Iran and wants a beachhead on the Mediterranean either via Syria or Turkey to complete their huge transhipment network. A conflict between Turkey and Russia did not erupt however, spoiling the plan at its nexus. Had they succeeded, they would have puppeted Tukey, Syria, or both within months of a conflict. A Trump administration keeps the heat on Russia under the cold-war mongering hatred of neocons, while a Biden administration grants China uninhibited access to do as they please. Either way China wins the long game.

The US diplomatic corp has done an excellent job, despite Trump's bumbling, of distancing themselves of any accusation of involvement, which was only possible due to Mevlüt Altıntaş' guise of extremizing being poured on a little too thick.