Beijing calls for restraint and refuses to condemn the Kremlin

With our correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde

Chinese diplomacy is walking on a thread and the words of the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs betray this embarrassment. The same terms, almost word for word, were used by the Chinese ambassador to the UN a few hours earlier: “ We urge all parties to exercise restraint to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control. »

These statements by Hua Chunying were highly anticipated. There were people this Thursday afternoon at the press point where people asked: Is Beijing in contact with the Russians? With the Ukrainians? The spokesperson refuses to answer, as she refuses to speak of “invasion” to qualify the Russian operation, because of a historical context, she says ” very complex “.

The same embarrassment on the part of the state media which reproduce elements of Russian propaganda: the surgical war which, according to Moscow, must spare civilians (which is reminiscent of the terms used by the United States to go to war against Iraq), the alleged provocations of NATO, the weapons supplied by the United States to Ukraine. These same state media, especially in their English version (therefore intended for a foreign audience), taking care to quote the press releases of the Ukrainian presidency, so as not to appear as directly supporting the Kremlin.

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Social networks only talk about war

We refuses to take a stand on the side of the authorities, but Chinese social networks are only talking about the war this Thursday. As state media searched for their talking points, the situation in Ukraine sparked an avalanche of commentary. Diatribes of pro-Moscow nationalists against “ small countries that do not know their weakness “.

Testimonies also from Chinese students and businessmen in Ukraine sheltering in the basement of the buildings where they reside. The Chinese Embassy in Kiev invited them this Thursday morning to stay at home as much as possible and for those who have to leave, advised them ” to hang a Chinese flag prominently displayed on their vehicle. A lot of heart, a lot of “Give peace a chance again on Chinese networks this Thursday. Many Internet users worrying about the consequences of the war in Ukraine on China, especially if Beijing were to financially support its Russian ally targeted by the western sanctions.

► Read also: Ukrainian crisis: China’s embarrassed support for Russia