China appears to be paying attention to warnings about Russia.

Senior US officials say that two months after warning that China looked like it was going to help Russia fight Ukraine, they haven’t seen any evidence of Chinese military or economic support. This is good news for the fragile US-China relationship.

In recent days, officials from the United States have told Reuters that they are still concerned about China’s long-standing support for Russia in general, but that the military and economic backing that they were concerned about has not materialized, at least for the time being. The respite arrives at a critical juncture.

President Joe Biden is planning a trip to Asia later this month that will be all about how to deal with China’s rise. His government will soon release its first national security strategy for dealing with China’s rise as a great power.

In addition to not directly supporting Russia’s war effort, China has avoided new contracts between its state oil refiners and Russia, despite huge discounts. Sinopec Group, the state-owned company, called off talks in March about making a big investment in petrochemicals and selling gas in Russia.

During a meeting at the UN last month, the US representative to the UN said that China’s decision not to vote against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “victory.” This shows how Beijing’s balancing act between the West and Russia may be the best outcome for Washington.

As a result, China has refused to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine. It has also attacked the wide-ranging Western sanctions against Moscow while claiming that it isn’t intentionally helping Moscow get around them.

In the first three months of the year, trade between Russia and China went up. In February, the two countries formed a “no limits” alliance.

The Washington embassy in Beijing issued a 30-page newsletter on Monday accusing the US of spreading “falsehoods” to undermine China over Ukraine, including a March press leak claiming Russia had sought Chinese military assistance. According to the embassy, US officials have since said that they haven’t seen any proof that China helped.

In addition to addressing reporters in Brussels on March 24, in a phone discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he made sure he understood the ramifications. Biden has not mentioned China assisting Russia.

At a Senate hearing last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that China is worried about the “huge reputational risk” that comes with being a partner of Russia. For now, China isn’t giving much support to Russia’s military efforts, but that could change.

On his first trip to Asia as president, Biden will travel to Tokyo and Seoul on his first trip to Asia as a non-stopper. During a “quad” meeting in Tokyo, he’ll also meet with leaders from India and Australia.

To oppose the West, China has made Russia a crucial pillar of its foreign policy plan. According to a US official, Biden’s aides were worried that Xi was going to help Vladimir Putin directly when his campaign in Ukraine was having a lot of problems.

They’re relieved that this hasn’t happened yet, but Washington and its partners are keeping a careful eye on the extent of support, according to the official.

According to Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the United States, and the European Union’s strong warnings have so far paid off.

There has been persistent messaging, according to her, that if China acts so, it will face harsh consequences. So far, it appears that the Chinese have not. It’s possible that the Chinese had intended to send military help but then decided against it.

They also worry about China’s lack of criticism of what they say are Russian lies about the country’s actions in Ukraine.

On April 21, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that China had made a lot of bad comparisons between Russia’s aggressive war and Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself.

China is already doing things that aren’t helping the issue, despite its clarity.