Ukraine War: Why China is the Friend Russia Has Needed

Having Putin side-by-side with Xi signals China's strength to audiences across the Global South, analysts say. “It signals Beijing’s emergence as a pole of stability against Western pressure,” said Alessandro Arduino, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute....“China has emerged as Russia’s indispensable economic backstop: absorbing energy exports, supplying dual-use goods and providing diplomatic cover, all while calibrating its support to avoid triggering secondary sanctions or crossing the red line of direct military assistance...For the first time in the modern era, Beijing is unmistakably ‘the big brother’ marking a historic inversion in the relationship with Moscow," Arduino said."