Auckland nurses get a cash reward, Parliament passes abortion law reform and Ukraine's president’s plea for support in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
As the invasion of Ukraine drags into its third week, more and more questions are being asked about the cosy relationship between Russia and China.
And now, a Chinese reporter has become the unlikely symbol of that alliance, after emerging as the only foreign journalist allowed to be embedded with Russian troops.
Lu Yuguang, who works for China's Phoenix TV, recently declared to his viewers that: "I'm on the frontline in Mariupol", and over the past few weeks, his coverage has revealed unprecedented access to the Russian campaign unmatched by any other foreign media figure.
At the start of the month he even scored an interview with Denis Pushilin, the leader of Ukraine's pro-Russian breakaway territory of Donetsk, claiming on air that while Donetsk has fewer troops than Ukraine, "with the help of Russian forces, eastern Ukraine militia have liberated 40 residential areas within the administrative line. The victory keeps expanding."
According to his Phoenix TV bio, Lu has had long ties with Russia, after studying journalism in Moscow and winning a string of Russian media awards.
China's Lu Yuguang reporting from Russia's 'frontline'. Photo / Supplied
Nevertheless, his invasion coverage is all the more unusual given Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed off on a law allowing 15-year jail sentences for the reporting of what Moscow deems to be "fake news", and Lu's sensational access to the Russian side of the conflict has been interpreted as yet another sign of the growing friendship between the two nations.
In early March, the New York Times reported that senior Chinese officials likely had some level of knowledge about Russia's plans to invade Ukraine before Putin launched the operation in February.
Citing US and European officials and a Western intelligence report, the publication claimed top-ranking Chinese figures told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine until the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Putin ultimately ordered the invasion to begin four days after the Olympics ended, with the president ramping up his military advance and rhetoric in the hours after the closing ceremony ended.
In early March, China again sparked outrage after abstaining from voting in a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
This Maxar satellite image taken and released on March 12 shows burning apartment buildings in western Mariupol, which has been particularly hard hit. Photo / Maxar Technologies
There were 141 votes in favour, five against, and 35 abstentions – including China, India, and Cuba.
Later that month, China doubled down on a Russian conspiracy theory which experts believe could be part of a plot to justify the invasion of Ukraine, with a Chinese official accusing the US of running biolabs in the eastern European nation.
The comments were made in the wake of reports from Russian media outlets which alleged that a network of more than 30 biological labs were operating in Ukraine at the request of the US Department of Defence's Threat Reduction Agency, an allegation the US had dismissed as nonsense.
China has also repeatedly refused to join other nations in imposing sanctions on Russia, arguing that they threaten a political resolution to the conflict.
In fact, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently described Russia as the country's "most important strategic partner", adding their alliance was "one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world".
"No matter how perilous the international landscape, we will maintain our strategic focus and promote the development of a comprehensive China-Russia partnership in the new era," Wang said in a news conference.
"The friendship between the two peoples is iron clad."
