China today officially denied the Financial Times' claim that Chinese President Xi Jinping told Donald Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin "may regret" invading Ukraine. At a briefing in Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun called those reports "completely fabricated".

The timing here is especially sensitive. Putin lands in Beijing today for a two-day visit, where around 40 bilateral documents will be signed. If the FT story were accurate - it would mean that China, after officially backing the Russians, is now quietly telling them the invasion was a bad idea. China today moved to burn that story before anyone could accept it as fact.

"China has already published the information about the meeting between the Chinese and American leaders. The information you cite is not in line with the facts and is completely fabricated," Guo said. That's diplomatic language for: "No, it didn't happen." But the question is whether that's really true, or whether China simply can't allow the private dialogue with Trump to publicly complicate the summit with Putin.

A Balkan reader can appreciate the context. China and Russia have over the last ten years openly built a partnership against American influence. Chinese support for Russia on paper is "unlimited". On the ground it's more nuanced - China never sent the Russians weapons, never recognised the occupied Ukrainian territories. The signal from this denial is that Beijing clearly wants to remain a two-handed player. With Putin in public, with Trump in private. Nothing surprising - that's the old Chinese school.