Claims that China has become a belligerent actor in the Ukraine War are “absolutely groundless”, a Chinese government spokesman asserted, stating Beijing is talking to Kyiv to verify the facts of the matter.
Spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lin Jian said at the government’s Wednesday press conference that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s implicit accusation that the country had deployed troops to the Ukraine war in support of Russia was “absolutely groundless,” reports France24.
A Chinese government transcript states that Lin Jian said Beijing is “verifying” the information with Kyiv. Regarding the fighters themselves, he claimed China did not authorise its citizens to fight abroad.
He said: “Let me stress that the Chinese government always asks Chinese nationals to stay away from areas of armed conflict, avoid any form of involvement in armed conflict, and in particular avoid participation in any party’s military operations.”
The comments from Beijing came in response to a press conference by President Zelensky on Tuesday in which the Ukrainian leader said his forces had engaged a squad of Chinese citizen soldiers and had taken two prisoners. The men had Chinese identity documents on them, he said.
Zelensky’s remarks appeared to imply this was not an isolated incident, but rather that China itself was going to war against Ukraine. The President said: “The Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine. And I think this is an important point that we need to discuss with our partners. I think it is urgent. I understand that we are a strong country, but we cannot fight many countries at the same time, which all need something on our land.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also laid the charge of now direct involvement in Russia’s invasion at China’s door, saying yesterday: “Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russia’s invasion army in Ukraine puts into question China’s declared stance for peace and undermines Beijing’s credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
The absolute truth of the matter is so far unclear, but it is well known that both Kyiv and Moscow recruit and deploy foreign volunteers to supplement their own armed forces. Russian state media promoted a report last week that claimed Ukraine presently deploys between 15 and 18,000 “mercenaries”, for instance.
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