This study is aimed at examining how the Russian invasion of Ukraine is portrayed in the Chinese newspaper, People’s Daily. This study is a comparative study that compares 23 articles from the February 24 2022 until April 24 2022 to 10 articles from January 1 2024 until November 19 2024. A thematic analysis has been used in order to analyse the material and find the most common themes. The research questions that are answered are; what are the most common themes that appear in these articles, and can rhetorical support from China for Russia regarding the war be found in these articles? Has there been a change in rhetoric over the two years of war and can this be seen as evidence of an ongoing alliance between China and Russia? The findings show that the main themes are; blaming the United States and NATO for the war in Ukraine, indivisible security and Russia’s legitimate security concerns, peace talks, negative response to sanctions, China urges the west to leave their Cold-war mentality, negative response to perceived American hegemony and evacuation of Chinese citizens in Ukraine. The conclusion is that the rhetorical support for Russia in The People’s Daily can be seen as support for the theory of an act of alliance as proposed by Stephen Blank and many others, since China does not condemn Russia’s actions and, adopts some of Russia’s narratives regarding the war. A rhetoric change has also occurred in 2024 compared to 2022, with more focus being placed on trying to solve the conflict with the Theme C peace talks being the most occurring, while some other themes have diminished or completely disappeared.