On Chinese social media, if you support Russia, you are a patriot; if you support Ukraine, you are a pro-American traitor.
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, social media has been a platform for major debates over the war. While the majority of Western countries have rallied behind Ukraine — advocating for increased aid to humanitarian organizations — China’s social media users have predominantly sided with Russia, accusing the United States and NATO of instigating and perpetuating the war.
Within the comment section of a video titled “What is the nature of the ‘Russo-Ukrainian War’ and what are the implications for China?”, co-produced by Guancha, an independently operated internet platform not subject to state-controlled media, users expressed views such as, “This is not just the Russo-Ukrainian War, but the Second Anti-Fascist War” and “Go Russia!”, which garnered agreement and endorsement from fellow users.
When a user attempted to reason “One should not whitewash the war”, he was rebuffed by another comment, saying: “Where were you when Ukraine sought NATO membership? Or when they were shelling Russian citizens in Donbass?” Another commenter said, “There’s nothing wrong with being neutral, but supporting Ukraine is suicide.”
“Where were you when Ukraine wanted to join NATO? Where were you when they were shelling Russian citizens?”
Cynicism and the fear that China will become the next target of the U.S. once Russia faltered underpinned most of these pro-Russian opinions. “The only reason I’m supporting Russia,” one user elucidated, stating, “is that China is not yet strong enough to stand alone against the pressure of the combined forces of Europe and the United States. That’s all.”
On Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, the overwhelming majority of users also expressed staunch support for Russia. Those showing sympathy toward Ukraine were labeled either pro-Western traitors or Taiwanese spies. In April 2022, when Global Times, a Chinese state media outlet under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, the People’s Daily, posted an update on the Bucha massacre, users who criticized the Russian government were met with a barrage of comments such as, “Taiwanese are out roaming again,” “Return to your tiny well,” and “Wake up, you are just as much a pawn of the US as Ukraine.”
It appears that individuals who align themselves with Ukraine, even in expressing empathy towards Ukrainian refugees, risk being branded as potential defectors to the West or collaborators with foreign hostile forces, alleged to be funded and backed by the U.S. government. On the Chinese internet, America is viewed as the main aggressor behind the invasion of Ukraine, not Russia.
“As of now, support for Russia is for Chinese interests and support for Ukraine is against Chinese interests,” one user concluded.
In the eyes of the majority, Russian President Vladimir Putin is perceived as the savior who steered Russia out of economic crisis, preventing its relegation to a secondary power. Since the beginning of the war, Putin has received widespread praise as a “strongman” and “the great heroic ruler” who fiercely combated Western dominance.
A video tribute to Putin, set to a song called “What Can I Hold You With”, ranked 57th in the site-wide ranking of views. Comments eulogized his personal charisma and great personality, saying “Putin is a hero of the Russian people” and “He is my idol, it’s embarrassing to admit, but I would cry if he was gone. He is impeccably strong, always there protecting Russia. I wish I could meet him in person one day.”
One commentor revered him as “the Soviet Union’s last gift to Russia.”
Chinese people have harbored a nostalgia towards the Cold War long before the invasion of Ukraine, or rather, towards the Soviet Union, which was affectionately remembered as the big brother who supported China during its darkest years until the Sino-Soviet split in 1960. The dissolution of the former socialist republic was viewed as regrettable, rather than justified, as by the West. China has a generally positive view toward Russia, which, in their opinion, inherited the Soviet Union’s massive debts and suffered through a tumultuous 1990s that plunged the country into poverty, war and near-collapse.
Nevertheless, some individuals caution against the romanticized view of Russia-China relations, emphasizing Russia is an inherently unreliable partner based on historical evidence. Chinese internet users’ inclination toward Russia may stem from a deep-seated fear and anxiety that China might one day meet the same fate as the Soviet Union, exacerbated by the complex dynamics between the U.S. and China, which are intricately linked through economic ties but fundamentally divided by ideologies.
Edited by: James Sutton & Steven London
Featured image: Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash
