The Shanghai branch of the Communist Party newspaper, People’s Daily, on Feb. 27, 2022.
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Tightly controlled coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has centered on negotiations in China.
Beijing's stance has been to encourage negotiations, as the country seeks to distance itself from Russia more than it did during a high-profile meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in early February.
On Monday, as the Ukrainian delegation arrived at the Belarusian border for the first round of talks with Russia, Chinese state media was quick to update, and even livestream, the proceedings. State media reported on Xi's call with Putin late Friday, focusing on the Russian leader's willingness to negotiate.
When the war began on Thursday, China's Foreign Ministry emphasized negotiation. While China expressed dissatisfaction with what it was witnessing, it refused to classify the attack as an invasion.
Coverage in the state media
Instead, the term "special military operations" has been used by Chinese state media. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has been mentioned on CCTV's daily evening news broadcast, but mostly in a brief segment near the end of the roughly half-hour program in a section about international news.
Again, the discussion of the war has centered on efforts to reach an agreement rather than Russia's attack.
While the state news agency Xinhua has published images of Ukrainian refugees, some carried by the Communist Party newspaper the People's Daily claimed to show the refugees arriving at Russia's eastern border.
Xinhua has occasionally livestreamed from Kyiv, focusing on the lives of local residents in the midst of "conflict."
Over the weekend, the Chinese embassy in Ukraine also released a nearly 10-minute video by ambassador Fan Xianrong, in which he stated that he was in Kyiv and heard sirens, explosions, and gunshots.
According to an official English-language statement from China's foreign ministry, Chinese Minister Wang Yi said in a phone call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Tuesday that China is "deeply grieved" to see the conflict. The Chinese version of the readout was distributed by local media, which also stated that the call was focused on the evacuation of Chinese citizens.
The impact of the war on commodity prices and markets has been discussed in state-run financial media.
However, as is often the case in China, the media has overwhelmingly focused on Xi's speeches and domestic events.
Beijing is focusing on what is traditionally a politically sensitive time of year: a largely symbolic gathering of delegates in the capital to approve the GDP growth target, national budget, and other policy measures. The main meeting is scheduled to begin on Saturday and last at least a week.
Discussion of China-US relations
Russia's invasion of Ukraine coincided with the 50th anniversary of US President Richard Nixon's visit to China and a thaw in US-China relations.
According to Chinese state media, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang has emphasized the importance of the US-China relationship and the need to promote cooperation and a return to the "right" track.
However, China's foreign ministry spokespeople have blamed the United States for exacerbating Russia-Ukraine tensions, and state media's daily evening news broadcast has portrayed the United States as failing to deal with the pandemic and maintain Middle Eastern stability.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce did not take a single question from reporters about trade with Russia, Ukraine, or the United States during a press conference on Tuesday.
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