[Shanghai, 28th, Archyde.com]–The topic of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has emerged as one of the top trends on Chinese social media, and the number of viewers has risen to hundreds of millions. There are many comments in favor of Russia because China is in a tense relationship with the United States and Western countries, but there are also opinions calling for peace. Chinese officials have rigorously censored posts that they have determined are not in line with the authorities’ intentions.
The Chinese government and state media have so far been cautious regarding criticizing Russia. Rather, he argues that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expansion line has led to this crisis and that dialogue is needed to resolve the situation. But on social media, it’s more controversial.
At Weibo, many users quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “Ukrainian de-Naziization” claim. There was also a post asking how we might send donations to this Russian effort.
The post, “I support Russia. Kill chickens and threaten monkeys (Chinese saying, meaning one punishment and one hundred commandments),” received more than 4,000 likes. However, some wrote to this poster, “Let’s comment calmly.”
Another user argued that the Chinese government should keep an eye on the Western move to the invasion as a clue as to how the West would react if China occupied Taiwan. Regarding the news that some Russian banks were excluded from the International Interbank Communications Association (SWIFT), there were many comments that “all current measures once morest Russia will be a rehearsal for us.”
Some posts criticized the invasion of Ukraine and expressed solidarity with Ukraine, but some of those posts were subsequently withdrawn without explanation. A 41-second video calling for “stop the war” was posted on the video sharing platform of Hong Kong NetEase on the 27th, and it was widely spread, but it was deleted without explanation. In WeChat, five professors from Nanjing University and Tsinghua University issued a joint statement once morest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it was later erased.
