China Watch, May 2022
China's narrative of Russia's war against Ukraine.
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China
Analysis by the Andreea Leonte
Andreea Leonte is a parliamentary advisor and a fellow for China studies at The Romanian Institute for the Study of the Asia-Pacific (RISAP).
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China and Russia issued a'Joint Statement on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development'
On February 4th, China and Russia issued a 'Joint Statement on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development' highlighting many common points of interest on the international stage.
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So why doesn’t China support Ukraine?
Well, China’s choice is more a manifestation of an anti-US sentiment rather than sympathy for Russia’s casus belli. After all, 'the new era in international relations is about the end of US unipolarity. Sadly for Ukraine, this plays in Russia’s favor.
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But if Russia is rescuing Ukraine, why do so many Ukrainians flee to the West?
Unfortunately, many Chinese don’t get to ask such questions, because the information they consume is carefully selected so as to prevent readers from critically analyzing it
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How about social media?
Nothing escapes Beijing's censors. Not only do social media platforms receive constant guidance from the Government, via the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), but the (war related) pro-Western and pro-Ukraine content is almost instantly deleted
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Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked a strong wave of nationalism among Chinese citizens, due to censorship and prolonged exposure to anti-US narrative.
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China Watch –The Information War
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Many voices oppose the war, both among mainstream users and among academics, celebrities, and social media content creators. For example, a few days after the invasion, 130 alumni of top Chinese universities published a manifesto opposing the invasion and calling on the Chinese government to respect the agreement signed with Ukraine after Ukraine abandoned the nuclear weapons in 1994.
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But voices expressing solidarity with Ukraine are quickly suppressed, either by censorship or via peer pressure. To give just an example, social media content creators Ke Lan (2.9 million followers), who shared an image from an anti-war protest, and Jin Xing (13 million followers), a transgender celebrity, who posted on her page 'Respect all lives and resolutely oppose the war!!!' both had their accounts suspended.
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ONLINE MEDIA MONITORING IN ROMANIA
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The overwhelming majority of Chinese press releases on the war in Romania have criticized the US for acting as a destabilizing force in Europe. In the absence of any pro-Russian sentiment, there are few pro-Russian messages. From the beginning of February to mid-May, Xinhua's Romanian Facebook page and China Radio International's website had together more than 200 posts on Ukraine. The Chinese Embassy also had about 60 posts on Facebook. Among the key points made are the need to abandon 'the cold war mentality', the destabilizing role played by NATO, and the urgency of peacefully ending the conflict.
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This monitoring is supported by a grant from
THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY
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