Specificity of Chinese communicative against the war in Ukraine

chiny24.com 2 years ago

China's “political neutrality” in relation to the war in Ukraine has been met with the cold reception of the West from the very beginning. The superficial distance from the conflict has increasingly taken the form of indirect support for Russia in its “military operation”. The US has accused China of bias and spreading misinformation, thereby contributing to the emergence of pro-Russian sentiments in China itself. Indeed, the Russian-Ukrainian war is only a tiny part of the wider organization narrative, which reflects the Chinese attitude not only to the conflict in east Europe, but to the full Western world.

Official position of China

China has never condemned Russia for assaulting a sovereign state. Instead, they pointed to “reasonable safety concerns” which must be discussed by all parties. The word ‘invasion“ replaced the propaganda word ‘Special military operation’, either "Russian-Ukrainian crisis". Despite assurances of political neutrality, organization media mention relations from Russian sources, spreading misinformation and anti-Western rhetoric. Many reports and discussions do not focus on what is actually happening in Ukraine (the civilian victims of the invasion were mentioned only 3 weeks after the outbreak), but focuses on very selective fragments.

On February 24, the Chinese Ministry of abroad Affairs organised a press conference during which spokeswoman Hua Chunying clarified the authoritative position of the Chinese government against the Ukrainian crisis. On the same day, a State Department representative, Ned Price, suggested that China has a moral work to prompt Russia to "withdrawal“ to ease the conflict. Hua Chunying in consequence appealed to “a century of humiliation” erstwhile China was de facto half a colony of European powers. She then recalled the civilian war incidental in Yugoslavia. In an effort to destruct the Yugoslav arms agency, NATO troops mistakenly bombed the Chinese embassy. As a consequence of the attack, 3 journalists lost their lives. ‘USA has no right to scold China’ – stressed. Thus, the government's main communicative focused not on the Ukrainian crisis, but on the irresponsible and assertive approach of Western representatives.

The authoritative position of the PSC places peculiar emphasis on 2 issues. The first is the function of the United States and their western allies in causing conflict, and the second is the opposition of the Chinese side, which opposes "Cold War mentality” and fueling the existing crisis. On China Daily's main page on 24 February this year, an entry was published accusing the US of "adding oil to the Ukrainian crisis“ To exacerbate tension in the East and to sow unnecessary panic. The state tabloid Global Times created hashtag “UkraineCrisisInstigator” to item the blame of the United States and NATO. Partial relations contributed to the creation of pro-Russian public discourse. ‘In the long term, it is about undermining the credibility of the US and the global strategy led by revenue." said David Bandurski, co-founder of the China Media Project. The anti-American moods did not appear in China overnight. Blame the West for causing a conflict in east Europe is part of a wider propaganda narrative, depicting the US as the biggest threat to Chinese sovereignty and integrity.

Chinese media legitimize anti-Western rhetoric by citing positions of another Asian countries. Pakistan's bitter consequence to the force from the European Union to condemn Russia (“Do you think we're your slaves?), rapidly turned into a loud hashtag. An English-language Global Times account tweeted a photograph from India, on which the Qutub Minar building was allegedly illuminated by the colors of the Russian flag. As it turned out, colours were not intended to express support for Russia, but were part of a national awareness raising action on the usage of generic drugs.

(Generic medicines (reproduction) are equivalent to first products whose patent protection has already expired or has not been applied for.)

On March 8, 1 of the most popular topics in Chinese social media was the alleged discovery of 26 U.S. military biological laboratories in Ukraine, a conspiracy explanation spread by Russia.

In a strictly controlled media space, the conflict in Ukraine creates an chance for a replacement information war. In this indirect war China competes with the US for leadership in the global race. The Americans isolated Russia from the global community, "closed" Europe, Japan and Korea in a fresh set of priorities and forced China to clearly specify their authoritative position on territorial integrity. On the another hand, China strengthened Russia's subordinate position and prompted most countries of the global South to not engage in conflict. Many Chinese experts see the conflict in Ukraine as a symbol of the weakening West and the end of the U.S. global hegemony.

Ukrainian crisis - social reception

In the first days of the conflict, many Weibo users expressed sympathy for the Ukrainian population and published comments against the invasion. Anti-war sentiments were rapidly marginalized by pro-Russian statements, fueled by authoritative government positions. ‘I powerfully support Russian military operation! These are the consequences of Ukraine following the Yankees. We should usage this chance to liberate Taiwan and recover the Diaoy islands.” – One user wrote. Weibo has flooded comments supporting Russia.

Qu Weiguo, prof. at Fudan University in Shanghai published an entry in which he openly condemned Chinese “excited” annexation of Ukraine's territory. Qu stressed that the unlawful seizure of the territory of a sovereign state is not just a problem of the West. In 2013, the PRC signed the Chinese-Ukrainian Treaty, which confirms China's support for Ukrainian territorial unity, safety and sovereignty. In view of the above agreement, China cannot recognise the 4 annexed sites as a legal part of Russia.

The unprecedented defeats of the Russian army cooled the enthusiasm of any Chinese military commentators and caused waves of uncertainty about Russia's competence. ‘The soldiers have a low morale, the country has no money, and their equipment is far beyond NATO.“ Russia has become a “weak goose” (菜饿). This word spread peculiarly powerfully in online political and military circles, erstwhile the incompetence of the Russian army could no longer be concealed. However, the mockery and jokes from Russia are not consistent with the change in the overall relation of the Chinese people to the conflict, nor is there an increase in support for the Ukrainian side. This only means that the conflict has been going on much longer than expected and Russia has not met general expectations. She lost her image in the eyes of Chinese public opinion.

Liu Zhongling, a financial blogger, pointed out that many Chinese are on Ukrainian side. This is due to the fact that “All the advancement the Ukrainian army is now making is at the expense of many wounded and killed. Given that this war will last a long time, soldiers are far more crucial than weapons.“ A akin comment was made by actor Du Zijian, writing that "This territory belongs to Ukraine, it cannot be taken by anyone.“ However, akin statements are not always supported by another Chinese social media users.

People criticizing war are frequently referred to as naive hypocrites who argue conflict due to the fact that it was not straight triggered by the West. According to this logic, opponents of war are frequently gratuitously called supporters of America. The net was filled with catchy slogans: "If you argue war, but do not argue America, you have hidden motives‘ or ‘If you argue war, but you don't argue America, you're inhuman.It’s okay. ”

The outbreak of the war in Ukraine created a place for a fresh discussion about Taiwan's future. any online commentators view the invasion of Ukraine as a informing to Taiwanese people; others point out that the conflict should be a informing to Continental China due to the fact that the West could origin a crisis, or supply military support to Taiwan to provoke China to act. The Chinese MFA underlines that Taiwan should not be compared to Ukraine due to the fact that Taiwan is "An inalienable part of China’s territory” which will yet be united with the continent.

Text: Milena Świeboda

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