While Chinese officials refuse to call Russia's war in Ukraine an "invasion" or impose sanctions, the moves of major banks, and stories from Chinese expats on the ground, tell a different story.
In the immediate wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion, his speech — which cast Russia as a victim of Western aggression — was cheered by many nationalists on Chinese social media platforms.
This week, Chinese internet users were stocking up on Russian chocolates, in symbolic defiance of sanctions from the West, while social media sites said they would clamp down on "inappropriate" posts about "importing" Ukrainian women.
But as the fighting intensifies in Europe, there has been a shift in the tone online — although posts are often swiftly censored.
Jin Xing, China's first openly transgender dancer who has more than 13 million fans on Weibo, called the Russian President "a crazy man" on China's Twitter-like social media platform.
She also posted a photo with a TV hostess from state television wearing a blue and yellow dress.
"According to the colour code of her dress, this sister from China Central TV seems to support Ukraine. Stop the war, pray for peace!" she wrote.
Soon after, her post was deleted and her account suspended.
Chinese citizens trying to flee Ukraine
Chinese people on the ground in Ukraine are sharing snippets of their lives in the war-torn country in videos on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
With tears in their eyes, some Chinese expats have recounted how Ukrainian people helped them flee from the war zone, and urged the Chinese government to allow their Ukrainian partners to be evacuated to China.
Du Shaofu, a Chinese national, and his Ukrainian wife told Hong Kong's Phoenix TV on February 26 that they considered a heartbreaking choice — Mr Du bringing their kids to China without his wife, as she doesn't have Chinese citizenship.
The touching interview went viral on Weibo.
Five days later, the Chinese embassy in Ukraine responded in a notice saying the partners, children, and parents-in-law of Chinese expats would be evacuated together to the neighbouring country of Moldova.
But China has also been criticised online over its evacuation efforts.
When many Western countries moved their diplomats to neighbouring countries and advised their nationals to leave Ukraine ahead of the war, the Chinese embassy only suggested Chinese nationals remain vigilant.
At the start of the invasion, the Chinese embassy in Kyiv suggested citizens should put Chinese flags on their vehicles to avoid attacks.
But less than 48 hours later, it reversed that advice, telling expats not to identify their nationality.
State-run news outlet The People's Daily reported that some Chinese students had said the perceived good relationship between China and Russia made them feel unsafe in Ukraine.
In a media conference on March 2, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was asked if Beijing had mismanaged the evacuation of its citizens.
Mr Wang didn't respond directly to the question but said the government communicated with Chinese nationals in Ukraine and was exploring all possibilities to evacuate them.
But in a transcript from the press conference released on the ministry's website, the question had been erased.
'Playing with words'
While China has refused to condemn Russia, and abstained from a United Nations vote calling on Russia to immediately withdraw its troops, it hasn't explicitly endorsed the invasion either.
Earlier this week, it seemed China was ready to play a role as a peacemaker, with its Foreign Minister telling his Ukraine counterpart the country respected all countries' sovereignty and integrity.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked his Chinese counterpart in a phone call on Tuesday to use Beijing's ties with Moscow to stop Russia's military invasion of its neighbour, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Mr Kuleba that Beijing was ready to make every effort to help end the war through diplomacy.
Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping, when he met Vladimir Putin ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, declared China's partnership with Russia had "no limits".
But when Mr Xi called Mr Putin last Friday, the Chinese President said he endorsed all nations' sovereignty and principles of the UN Charter.
Notably, the Chinese ambassador in Kyiv published a letter last week saying China respected Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
It was the first time a Chinese official had directly commented on Ukraine rather than using the vague term of "all nations".
But Sydney-based political commentator Yang Han told the ABC China's pro-Russia stance had never changed.
"China is playing with the words," the former Chinese diplomat said.
"It is walking a tightrope between the West and Russia.
Chinese government rejects sanctions, but banks block Russia
China has also been criticised for undermining international sanctions by easing trade restrictions with Russia.
The country's Customs agency approved wheat imports from all regions of Russia, which could help reduce the impact of Western sanctions, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison accused China of "throwing a lifeline" to Russia.
One of the key sanctions from Western nations is to block some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin did not directly oppose the SWIFT sanctions but reiterated China's opposition to the use of what it calls illegal and unilateral sanctions.
"China and Russia will continue to conduct normal trade cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit," he said on Wednesday.
But in China's financial realm, a radically different approach has emerged.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the country's top banking regulator, said on Wednesday that China would not join in financial sanctions on Russia.
But on Thursday (local time), the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said it had paused all activities relating to Russia and Belarus due to the unfolding conflict.
"We, the management, will do our utmost to safeguard the financial integrity of AIIB, against the backdrop of the evolving economic and financial situation," the bank said in a statement.
Additionally, Bloomberg quoted an anonymous source saying some of China's largest state-owned banks had stopped financing Russian oil and commodities trades, without clarifying any details about the time frame and scale.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world's largest bank by assets, has restricted funding to purchase Russian commodities.
In the meantime, the Bank of China (BOC), the country's largest commercial bank, had its Singapore branch stop financing Russian oil trades.
Wu Muluan, a China expert at the National University of Singapore, told the ABC Chinese banks were afraid of being targeted by the US, as allowing financing could be seen as supporting Russia's invasion.
"Bank of China takes orders from Beijing. Its business in Singapore mainly focuses on China's business and market," he said.
Although Singapore has imposed its own sanctions on Russia, Beijing — rather than Singapore — has a stronger influence on the bank, Dr Wu said.
"Its branches in other countries will follow suit with the Singapore branch," he said.
"Like ICBC and BOC, many of these state-owned Chinese banks' valuable assets are in the US. The bankers are afraid to [speak] against the US policy openly."
Chinese government implicitly supports Russia
Dr Wu said the ICBC and BOC's moves showed China was playing its cards carefully and attempting to avoid backlash, although its official stance has never changed.
"It is very risky for China [to support Russia openly]. The West may put sanctions on it as well," he said.
Alexey Muraviev, a strategic studies expert at Curtin University, said China adopted an open strategic philosophy that allowed it not to take definitive sides.
But Dr Muraviev warned that while China's rhetoric could be altered slightly, it would not stop China from supporting Russia indirectly or directly in various ways.
He said China hadn't provided any military support for Russia's invasion yet, but it implicitly supported Russia.
"China buys Russia's resources, China intensifies its trade with Russia, it's a form of support," he said.
"Russia amassed its forces in Belarus, including the ones that may be taking part in the offensive against Ukraine, after moving them from the country's eastern regions — border regions with China," he said.
"That could only happen if China would provide additional security guarantees that Russia will not be attacked from that part of the world. So that's China's indirect military support for the situation in Ukraine."
