Beijing slams ‘manipulation and hype’ over Chinese soldiers captured in Ukraine

A revealing video released by Ukraine showing two men being interrogated has sparked tensions as China scurries to shut down the “hype”.

China on Tuesday rejected what it called “manipulation and hype” around two of its nationals captured in Ukraine, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of dragging Beijing into its invasion.

“China is verifying the relevant information and circumstances,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said when asked about the prisoners of war.

Beijing urged “relevant parties to accurately understand China’s objective and impartial stance, and to refrain from political manipulation and hype”, Lin said.

Ukraine on Monday held a press conference at which Chinese prisoners of war under armed guard told journalists they hoped to be swapped and warned other Chinese nationals not to go to fight.

Zelensky said Friday that several hundred Chinese nationals were fighting at the front line alongside Russia.

But Beijing insisted Tuesday that it had “repeatedly issued safety advisories, urging Chinese citizens to stay away from areas of armed conflict and to avoid becoming involved in conflict in any form”.

“With regard to the individual actions and consular cases involving Chinese citizens overseas, China handles them in accordance with the law,” Lin said.

A revealing video released by Ukraine showed two men being interrogated in a room with a Ukrainian flag as a backdrop. The first man, Zhang Renbo, revealed he was an inexperienced soldier who was on his first deployment.

A revealing video released by Ukraine showing two men being interrogated has sparked tensions as China scurries to shut down the “hype”.

Ukraine on Monday held a press conference at which Chinese prisoners of war under armed guard told journalists they hoped to be swapped and warned other Chinese nationals not to go to fight. (Photo by Handout / UKRAINIAN SECURITY SERVICE / AFP)

“I am a Chinese citizen from Jiangxi Province. I am currently being held by Ukraine as a prisoner of war,” he said.

When asked if he participated in direct combat against the Ukrainian armed forces, Mr Renbo deflected but revealed he had never held a gun before arriving in Ukraine.

“It was my first deployment, my first combat mission, prior to that I had never participated in combat operations. Before I got there, I had never held a weapon.”

The second prisoner, 34-year-old Wang Guangjun from Zhengzhou City, said he “surrendered in a group of three” including his deputy commander and another Russian soldier.

“They found him somewhere along the way since everyone was scattering chaotically. They lost two other Chinese somewhere,” the interpreter translated.

Beijing urged “relevant parties to accurately understand China’s objective and impartial stance, and to refrain from political manipulation and hype”, Lin Jian said.

Mr Guangjun said Ukrainians ended up “saving his life”, claiming that when they had surrendered Russians “dropped some kind of explosive gas on them”. He was in a shelter inhaling the gas and “thought he was going to die”, but a Ukrainian serviceman rushed in and dragged him out by the scruff of his neck.

After that, Mr Guangjun lost consciousness and eventually found himself plastered across the global press.

China presents itself as a neutral party in Ukraine war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.

But China is a close political and economic ally of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war, which it has never condemned.

Originally published as Beijing slams ‘manipulation and hype’ over Chinese soldiers captured in Ukraine