Beijing pushes back against Western pressure to take sides

Since China's President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden spoke about Ukraine last Friday evening, top Chinese officials - from the Foreign Minister and Vice-Minister, to the envoy in Washington - have spoken up in unison over an issue that they seemed to have been very unwilling to wade into previously.

Beijing's official position has not changed, but it now appears to be making much more effort to assert and defend it.