Beijing slams 'manipulation and hype' over Chinese soldiers captured in Ukraine

Beijing slams 'manipulation and hype' over Chinese soldiers captured in Ukraine
by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) April 15, 2025

China on Tuesday rejected what it called "manipulation and hype" around two of its nationals captured in Ukraine, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of dragging Beijing into its invasion.

"China is verifying the relevant information and circumstances," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said when asked about the prisoners of war.

Beijing urged "relevant parties to accurately understand China's objective and impartial stance, and to refrain from political manipulation and hype", Lin said.

Ukraine on Monday held a press conference at which Chinese prisoners of war under armed guard told journalists they hoped to be swapped and warned other Chinese nationals not to go to fight.

Zelensky said Friday that several hundred Chinese nationals were fighting at the front line alongside Russia.

But Beijing insisted Tuesday that it had "repeatedly issued safety advisories, urging Chinese citizens to stay away from areas of armed conflict and to avoid becoming involved in conflict in any form".

"With regard to the individual actions and consular cases involving Chinese citizens overseas, China handles them in accordance with the law," Lin said.

China presents itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.

But China is a close political and economic ally of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a "decisive enabler" of the war, which it has never condemned.

'Don't take part in this war', Chinese soldiers captured in Ukraine warn
Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) April 14, 2025 - Ukraine on Monday held a press conference at which Chinese prisoners of war under armed guard told journalists they hoped to be swapped and warned other Chinese nationals not to go to fight.

The event came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of dragging Beijing into its invasion, saying Friday that several hundred Chinese nationals were fighting at the front line.

The Kremlin denied the claim, while Beijing warned parties to the conflict against making "irresponsible remarks".

Two Chinese men dressed in camouflage uniform were escorted into a Kyiv press centre in handcuffs and sat flanked by armed Ukrainian soldiers, with no way of telling whether they were expressing themselves of their own free will.

Speaking Chinese, they said they were captured fighting in the eastern Donetsk region after joining the army via online ads.

"I hope China can exchange me with Russia and Ukraine and bring me back to China," said one of the men, 26-year-old Zhang Renbo.

The other, 33-year-old Wang Guangjun, said: "To my compatriots who want to join the Ukraine war, I want to say: don't take part in this war".

The soldier accused Russia of lying about its military strength and Ukraine's weakness.

"When you really participate in the war, when the moment of the fighting comes, you will find that everything is a lie," he said.