Tender has some things to say
When you look at Putin and his entourage in China, you just see a broken servant who asks for another bowl from his master. It is pathetic in so many ways. Russia, which was once calling the shots in East Asia and subverted and stole from Qing-China when dictating the Treaty of Aigun, is now the asking Beijing for help. It reminds us when Moscovia had to pay tribute to the Golden Horde back in the 14th Century. This is just a modern version of it.
You can say what you want, but Beijing plays it cards well. China holds Russia by the balls with iron grip and even in Russia many silently admit that this is an unequal "alliance", if at all. From a Chinese perspective, the infamous Unequal Treaties of the 19th Century have always been a thorn in the collective Chinese conscience, but while the British, Portuguese, German and Japanese imperial domains have been gone long ago, Russia is literally the only one who controls territory "acquired" from that time. Of course, officials from China and Russia will hastily point to the recent treaties both countries have signed concerning that matter, but Russia tries to establish a world where this is but ink on paper, being absolutely blindsided that Russia just only digged its own grave by having this powerful and hungry neighbor at its doorstep, who already uses Chinese names for Russia's far eastern territories and cities, such as Vladivostok. Just check out "Hǎishēnwǎi". That alone speaks volumes
The best joke, however, is that it is Russia and its lesser minions who claim that Western nations are colonies of the USA, but this is pure projection on their part. Russia is so dependent on China that the debt won't be repaid in a lifetime. Additionally, Russia's demographic catastrophe was even before the open war a headache for Moscow, but with the hundreds of thousands of dead Russians, as well as the even more wounded, but more importantly the million of Russians who abandoned their home country since February 2022, this will become the most unpayable mortgage any nation can handle. And the bank will come for you, not matter what, when you can't pay.
Chinese do take advantage of this situation, and honestly, I do not blame them. President Xi would be foolish not to do so. This one-sided partnership - at least at the moment - only brings advantages to China, on the expense of Russia. But even President Xi knows that China has severe weaknesses. China's housing crisis is an economic, nuclear time bomb, which could trigger a cascade of other problems. Demographically China is even more a mess than Russia. Only the large economic growth mitigated the problems, for now. But with the US Biden administration ratcheting up tariffs the US hit China where it hurts. It can go even more problematic when all Western nations decide that they will put any Chinese company as well as the Chinese banks behind it on sanctions lists, when they continue to help Russia in its war in Ukraine.
In the end, it is only a cost-benefit calculation which drives any leader in the world. The West has to put Russia into a situation where others will consider it too much of a risk and too expensive. Once Beijing sees the advantages outpaced by the incoming costs, this "partnership" - even when being unequal - will end from one day to another. When this will happen is primarily up to us in the West.