BEIJING: As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to evolve, some analysts say that Beijing is controlling messaging on the war to favor its strategic ally, Moscow.
Observers say Chinese state media outlets along with social media companies have been suppressing voices critical of Moscow’s military action, the Voice of America (VOA) reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, which has led to a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Russia. These punitive measures have led many international businesses to leave the Russian market.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the “special operation” is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. Since the start of the Russian military operations, the Western countries have accused Beijing of siding with Moscow even as it claims to take a neutral position.
Last month, an affiliate of China’s state-owned Beijing News, accidentally posted on Weibo, the Chinese Twitter, censorship instructions related to posts on the Russia-Ukraine war, VOA reported.
“Do not post anything unfavorable to Russia or pro-Western,” the now-deleted directive said. “If using hashtags, only use those started by People’s Daily, Xinhua, or CCTV.” Last week, a popular Chinese video streaming company refused to broadcast English Premier League matches because of the league’s planned shows of support for Ukraine.
Carl Minzner, a senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Chinese foreign policy “has been locked into a pro-Russia” stance, since the signing of the joint statement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi and Putin issued a 5,000-word joint statement ahead of the Winter Olympics last month outlining how the two nations approached different issues, with the statement released following a meeting of the leaders in Beijing.
The New York Times reported last week that Chinese officials asked the Russian government to hold off on invading Ukraine until the end of the Winter Olympics.
Yaqiu Wang, a senior researcher on China at Human Rights Watch said Beijing “prevents Chinese people from knowing the truth” about the conflict since Beijing and Moscow are strategic allies.
“Information control has always been the foundation of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule of China,” Wang told VOA. “Without censorship and propaganda, without covering up its abuses and deceiving the public, the party simply wouldn’t be able to stay in power.” (ANI)
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