Ukraine attack by Russia not called ‘invasion’ as China’s state media take cautious line
- State media adheres to Beijing’s line on calls for restraint and strategic partner Moscow’s security concerns over a growing Nato
- Some social media users and academics take a more pro-Ukraine stance
Chinese state media have not labelled the Russian military assault as “invasion”, and have echoed Beijing in repeating the security threat posed to Moscow by Nato’s eastward expansion. Most recent reports have focused on the evacuation of Chinese nationals from Ukraine.
However, the picture is slightly different on social media, where posts showing sympathy for Ukraine have appeared over the past few days.
Niu Tanqin, a WeChat account run by former Xinhua journalist Liu Hong, said one of the lessons learned from the war was to “never trust force too much”.
“Even if Russia really wins [the capital] Kyiv and all of Ukraine, can it really win over the Ukrainians? I don’t know, but it must be hard. If we believe in force too much, sometimes we could be swallowed by force,” ran a post on Monday.
Chinese scholars have also come out in support of Ukraine joining the European Union, something the country has long sought and President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday appealed for with “immediate” effect.
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Cui Hongjian, European Studies director at the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) in Beijing, told the nationalistic tabloid Global Times that it was a “more realistic option” for Ukraine to join the EU after being rejected by Nato.
Chinese analysts and state media are also using the chance to enhance the narrative against the US, blaming it for having incited the aggression and seeking to benefit from the crisis.
According to Su Xiaohui, a scholar with the CIIS, “the United States is constantly stirring up the situation and fanning the flames, further worsening the atmosphere over talks, and will inevitably make negotiations even more difficult.”
China tries to walk diplomatic tightrope over Ukraine crisis
She said that while the United States tries to avoid being involved in wars between major powers, it “hopes to protect its own interests and expand its interests as much as possible.”
“This is the set of tricks that it is playing now,” Su told state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday.
One of the most heated topics around the crisis has been the situation of Chinese nationals in Ukraine. The Global Times – a publication under Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily – reported on Wednesday that Chinese citizens were being evacuated in batches.
That was in contrast to complaints on social media from some overseas students about not receiving enough help from the Chinese embassy in Kyiv.
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Hu Xijin, a former Global Times editor-in chief, has called for “balanced” official voices on Ukraine.
“Obviously, it is not in the national interest for China to take sides in this crisis, and the right and wrong of the matter are indeed very complicated”, he said.
“Of course, as an individual, you can say anything about this war, but, as a collective voice, you need to be more rational. And our official attitude must be balanced and steady.”
