Since Xi Jinping rose to power in 2013, China has pursued an increasingly self-isolating diplomacy of jut-jawed belligerence. Nothing better illustrates the damage done to Beijing’s global standing than Xi’s declaration of a “no limits” partnership with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. 

For starters, it was spectacularly mistimed. Xi announced the new Sino-Russian alliance during the Beijing Olympics in February 2022, just 20 days before Russia invaded Ukraine.

There’s no indication that Putin gave Xi a heads up about the attack, though President Biden had repeatedly warned the world it was coming. The invasion put the Chinese leader on the spot because it brazenly violated two principles Beijing supposedly holds sacred — territorial integrity and non-interference in the affairs of sovereign states.  

Nonetheless, China refused to support the United Nations resolution condemning Putin’s unprovoked aggression. Instead, Xi parroted the Kremlin line that NATO expansion poses a mortal threat to Russia’s security.