News Analysis As deadly missiles rain upon Ukraine from a fateful and ill-conceived decision by Vladimir Putin to invade, one prominent country stands with the Russian dictator: China. Having just signed a wide-ranging strategic agreement with Putin on Feb. 4, Xi Jinping is effectively joining a Moscow pact against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). China’s junior ally Iran also signaled support for the dictators by condemning NATO as at fault for Russia’s crime. The condemnation of NATO’s expansion is the condemnation of European democracy’s self-defense. That stance against democratic defenses is central to China’s emerging alliance systems. The three dictatorships claim that NATO is offensive, when it is clearly defensive. They ignore the right of people and countries everywhere to choose their own leaders in fair elections. They reject the right of nations to choose their own defensive alliances based on shared democratic values. They thereby flout the U.N. …