Days before the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony last year, China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin inaugurated their "unlimited partnership." Three weeks later, the Olympics past, Putin's army invaded Ukraine.
Despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which marks a clear violation of international law Moscow has enjoyed support from a number of countries. Foremost among these is China. Over the last year, Beijing has not supported Russia in U.N. votes, has refrained from providing Russia with weapons, and has publicly proclaimed neutrality. But China has also refused to condemn the invasion, often repeated the Kremlin’s talking points about the war, opposed sanctions against Russia and helped prop up its economy. On the anniversary of the invasion, China released what it had previewed as a peace plan, which really amounted to a statement of principles reflecting Beijing’s longstanding talking points about the war.