Whenever China and Russia appear to diverge, a simple truth at the heart of their relationship becomes clear: neither country is obligated to follow the other, because their relationship is not a formal alliance, writes the BBC.
"It's not an alliance, but a flexible strategic partnership," Bobo Lo, former deputy chief of mission at the Australian Embassy in Moscow, tells the BBC.
It is a partnership that has survived despite repeated predictions of its collapse.
Unlike Western countries, which impose sanctions and punish based on different values, including human rights, neither Russia nor China judge each other's actions.
Repeated allegations of gross human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region - which China denies - and the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have made some Western countries more cautious in engaging with these countries, but Moscow and Beijing are shrugging off these issues.
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