Chinese diplomats complain to Russia after influencer denied entry from Kazakhstan
- The video blogger, who goes by the alias Jin Wenxin, was questioned for more than four hours and denied entry by Russian border guards
- Chinese embassy in Moscow says it has asked for a explanation about the ‘barbaric and excessive’ behaviour of the Russians
Chinese diplomats have lodged a protest with the Russian authorities after a well-known video blogger and his friends were questioned for more than four hours and denied entry from Kazakhstan.
In a statement posted on social media platforms, the country’s embassy in Moscow said it had complained that the treatment of the Chinese nationals was “barbaric and excessive”.
“We’ve made clear that ... this incident seriously violated the legitimate rights of Chinese citizens, and was totally out of line of the currently amicable relationship between China and Russia, and the growing trend of closer exchange of personnel between our two countries,” the statement said.
“The embassy has asked the Russian side to further investigate the excessive law enforcement of its border officials and provide us with a satisfactory response.”
It said Russian officials explained that the Chinese travellers had been turned back because of inconsistencies in the information they provided about their travel plans and denied that there was any discrimination against them.
The influencer, who is known by his social media name “Jin Wenxin”, posted a video on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, on Monday documenting what had happened to him when he tried to drive across the border checkpoint near the southern Russian city of Astrakhan.
While the embassy’s statement did not identify the Chinese people, the account matched the details in Jin’s video, which has received more than 30,000 likes since it was published.
In the video, Jin – who has more than 900,000 followers – complained that he and his four friends were “treated like criminals” by Russian officials, who went through their luggage three times.
Jin said he and his group were on a road trip from Kazakhstan to Russia on Sunday, with plans to visit Azerbaijan, Georgia, then Turkey.
He said they had obtained all the necessary documents such as visas and driving permits before their journey.
“After we were denied entry, they demanded to take our fingerprints and photos, which made us feel like criminals,” he said.
He said the group had refused to comply and were forced to go back to Kazakhstan 10 minutes later. They are believed to still be in the country but were planning to take a ferry across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan.
