BEIJING — In China, tightly controlled coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has focused heavily on negotiations.
Beijing's line has been to promote negotiations, as China tries to position itself further away from Russia than was portrayed in early February during a high-profile meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As the Ukrainian delegation arrived at the Belarus border for a first round of talks with Russia on Monday, Chinese state media was quick to update and even livestream the proceedings. State media had pushed out reports of Xi's call with Putin late on Friday that focused on the Russian leader's willingness to negotiate.
When the war began on Thursday, China's Foreign Ministry maintained its emphasis on negotiations. And while it said it China did not like what it was seeing, it refused to categorize the attack as an invasion.
Chinese state media has instead used the term «special military operations.» State-run broadcaster CCTV's daily evening news broadcast has mentioned the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but mostly in a brief segment toward the end of the roughly half-hour program in a section about international news.
Again, the discussion of the war has focused more on efforts toward negotiations, and less on Russia's attack.
While state news agency Xinhua has published visual reports about Ukrainian refugees, some carried by Communist Party newspaper the People's Daily claimed to show the refugees arriving at the eastern border with Russia.
Xinhua has livestreamed from Kyiv occasionally, mostly on the lives of local residents amid «conflict.»
The Chinese embassy in Ukraine over the weekend also released a nearly 10-minute video by the ambassador Fan Xianrong,
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