Amid the Ukraine Crisis, China-Russia Economic Relations Remain Lukewarm

Amid Europe's worst military crisis in decades, countries around the world faced mounting pressure to choose sides between Russia and Ukraine. China, in particular, has faced outspoken criticism from Western officials and foreign policy commentators , who see Beijing as openly supporting Russia. China has meticulously shunned any provocative language, mostly repeating Russian official statements. It also blamed the United States and NATO for mishandling Russian security concerns, " fuelling the flame" of conflict, and denounced Western sanctions as damaging for the global economy. Chinese social media seemed less timid, with some netizens [resorting](Chinese%20social%20media%20seemed%20less%20enthusiastic%20with%20many%20netizens%20resorting%20to%20war-drum%20rhetoric.) to war-drum rhetoric, for which many…