Chinese officials have been accused of asking Russia to delay their invasion of Ukraine in order to avoid disruption to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The country's athletes were permitted to compete in the Games, but only under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee [ROC], and not their own national flag.
That sanction was due to the state-sponsored doping scandal that dates back to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, and the issue arose again in China when it emerged that teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva had tested positive for a banned substance.
Following the Olympics, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbouring country, with more than a million Ukrainian civilians having fled to the border since the conflict began last Thursday.
With the death toll rising, a 40-mile long Russian military convoy is slowly edging towards the capital city of Kyiv.
And now an explosive report in the New York Times alleges that senior Chinese officials told Russian officials in early February to delay their declaration of war.
The report said that information on the exchange between the two nations was collected by a western intelligence service, and is considered credible by officials reviewing it.
The American media outlet added that senior officials in the United States, and allied governments, shared the information when speculating when President Vladimir Putin might launch his attack on Ukraine.
China has refuted the allegations, with Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the country's embassy in Washington, saying: “The claims mentioned in the relevant reports are speculations without any basis, and are intended to blame-shift and smear China."
Whilst the Winter Olympics concluded last Sunday, it has now been confirmed that no Russian or Belarusian athletes will be in Beijing when the Paralympics get underway this Friday, March 4.
That follows a U-turn by the IPC, who on Wednesday announced that competitors from both nations could participate under a neutral banner, ruling that neither Russia or Belarus would appear in the final medal table.
However, under mounting pressure from member nations, the authority then reversed that decision on Thursday, with President Andrew Parsons saying the measure had been taken in "order to preserve the integrity of these Games."
He also apologised to the affected athletes, telling them they were "victims of your governments’ actions."
