Kaiser Wilhelm II gave one to the Austro-Hungarian government in 1914; you know how that one turned out. Donald Trump gave one to MBS in Yemen; things didn’t go much better there. It is a really bad idea to give your unconditional support to an unreliable actor, because it turns you into a hostage of fortune.
That’s exactly what Xi has done with Putin in Ukraine. He’s going to be viewed as an accomplice to a crime in the countries that, in the long run, really matter to the Chinese. That’s the opposite of soft power.