Beijing on Thursday called for restraint following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but said the movement of troops wasn’t an invasion, and came against “a very complicated historical background.”
“China is closely monitoring the latest situation. We call on all sides to exercise restraint to prevent the situation from getting out of control,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing in Beijing.
“This is perhaps a difference between China and you Westerners. We won’t go rushing to a conclusion,” she said, adding that countries’ “legitimate security concerns” should be addressed through dialogue.
The Russian attack comes weeks after Putin met with ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Xi Jinping ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, where the two sides signed a friendship pact aimed at countering U.S. global influence.
Russian forces invaded Ukraine by land, sea and air in the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II, sending missiles raining down on cities, with columns of troops seen crossing the border from Russia and Belarus, and landing from the Black and Azov seas.
Highways out of the country’s capital, Kyiv, were choked with traffic as people tried to flee the city amid the sounds of explosions, air raid sirens and gunfire.
“Russia treacherously attacked our state in the morning, as Nazi Germany did in the WW2 years,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said via Twitter on Thursday.
“Russia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself & won’t give up its freedom no matter what Moscow thinks,” he wrote, calling on Ukrainians to defend their country.
Putin said he had ordered “a special military operation” to prevent “genocide” in Ukraine – an accusation the West calls absurd propaganda.
“We will strive for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine,” Putin said in a speech early on Thursday.
U.S. President Joe Biden has ruled out sending U.S. troops to defend Ukraine but he and other Western leaders promised tough financial sanctions.
‘Let Ukraine be a warning’
Many in China drew an immediate parallel with a putative Chinese invasion of the democratic island of Taiwan, which the CCP lays claim to, despite never having ruled the island of 23 million people.
“Hey, little Taiwan, are you watching?” Weibo user @Ling Ting is in hell but doesn’t forget the world wrote in a comment on a news report on the Russian military action. “Let Ukraine be a warning to you!”
“Taiwan is like, I have an American father and brothers in South Korea and Japan, so I can get military support. Hahahahahahahaha The U.S., South Korea and Japan will just offer sanctions,” @It’s right to like CN people wrote.
@Enthusiastic old citizen HK added: “I hope that the biggest surprise when I wake up tomorrow morning is the return of Taiwan [to the motherland].”
@Qi Bai Xiang North quipped that Taiwanese people will be learning China’s national anthem overnight, while @Liuyiming wrote: “We’re only going to show you this once, so take note, little Taiwan,” and @_alarm number 9527 said the invasion of Ukraine was “a blueprint for taking back Taiwan by force.”
“Little Taiwan is done for,” @Clover 555 concluded.
China’s state-controlled media has been ordered to use only news reports approved by the CCP’s central propaganda department, while social media platforms have been told to moderate comments to ensure that no anti-Russian content is posted.
“They can only use copy from the People’s Daily, Xinhua news agency or CCTV’s news broadcast,” former journalist Zhang Jiayi told RFA.
“Everyone, including celebrity accounts, social media pundits, scholars and the media have to follow official guidelines when expressing their opinions,” he said. “This will influence the judgement formed by the general public.”
“Russia is in the wrong because it has violated humanitarian principles, but the [Chinese government] wants to use this to show the Chinese people that they can do the same in Taiwan; that they can treat Taiwan the same way,” Zhang said.
‘Just a bargaining chip’
Faced with a chorus of commentary, the American Institute in Taiwan issued a statement seeking to reassure people that Washington’s commitment to supporting Taiwan remained unchanged.
Ye Yaoyuan, head of the Department of International Studies and Contemporary Linguistics at St. Thomas University in the United States, pointed out that China is playing a “two-handed” game, and is unlikely to seek to influence any actual restraint on the part of Russia.
“This conflict isn’t … something that China can act as mediator in,” Ye told RFA. “It’s just a bargaining chip [Beijing] can use to bring to the negotiating table with the U.S.”
Another senior media figure told RFA that the majority of people in China believe that the current conflict is the fault of the E.U. and the U.S.
“Official public statements … all say they want a peaceful solution, but the rhetoric will subtly change, to imply that Russia had its hand forced by Western countries,” the person said.
Chinese officials have been quick to fuel nationalistic sentiment in China, calling on Chinese people in Ukraine to identify themselves with bumper stickers on their cars, or with the Chinese national flag.
But an official who answered the phone at the Chinese embassy in Kyiv said no arrangements are currently in place for Chinese nationals who may need help.
“What danger?” the official said. “There aren’t any arrangements at the moment, and the embassy doesn’t have many rooms for Chinese citizens to stay in, not right now.”
An official who answered the consular assistance helpline number at the Chinese consulate in Odessa declined to comment when contacted by RFA on Thursday.
“I’m out right now, can’t talk on the phone,” the official said, before hanging up.
Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.