My Take | China does not want the West’s Ukraine and Mideast quagmires
Western propaganda alleging direct Chinese military support for Russia and Yemen has become so outlandish it is bordering on the absurd
When your war is not going your way, drag China into it. The way Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and Washington tell it, China is now directly arming Russia and militarily assisting the Houthis, the dominant governing power in Yemen. If those claims were true, it would amount to a major escalation on two fronts, in eastern Europe and the Middle East. That would be World War III levels of provocation by China.
Early this month, the Ukrainian military claimed it captured two Chinese soldiers. Zelensky paraded them in front of the world media. It was convenient timing, coming shortly after his epic verbal fight with US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to withdraw American support and make nice with Russia.
But let’s say they really are Chinese citizens, so what? What you need to know for context is that the war in Ukraine has been a magnet for foreign fighters on both sides. Meanwhile, possibly more than half a million Chinese nationals live and work across Russia, though there is no exact census on this significant Chinese diaspora. Would it be so surprising that the Russian military managed to draft a few Chinese into the fighting, despite Beijing’s active refusal to be drawn into the conflict?
You have fighters from the former Soviet republics and satellite states fighting on either side, specially in the Donbas region. Joined by small numbers of Polish, Baltic, German, Canadian, French and American volunteers, there have even been pro-Ukrainian Belarusian and Russian volunteers fighting against the regular Russian army.
There have reportedly been Indians and Nepalis fighting alongside the Russians, but so far, only North Korea has openly supported Moscow by fielding its own soldiers into the regular Russian army.
Lately, Zelensky claims he has “reliable” intelligence that the Chinese have been making weapons in Russia. What are they? Apparently gunpowder and materials for artillery. What types? Do they come in ready-made or in parts that need to be assembled like Ikea furniture? He didn’t say.