Beijing calls Zelenskyy’s remarks on Chinese fighters ‘irresponsible’

China yesterday described as “irresponsible” accusations by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia is actively recruiting Chinese citizens to fight alongside its forces in the Ukraine war.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that over 150 such mercenaries are already active on the battlefield with Beijing’s knowledge. He spoke after the capture this week of two Chinese nationals who were fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian repeated China’s assertions that it supports and promotes a peaceful settlement to the conflict and 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.”

“We call on the relevant party to be correct and sober about China’s role and refrain from making irresponsible remarks,” Lin said at a daily briefing in response to a question about Zelenskyy’s comments.

The two captured Chinese nationals were identified as Wang Guangjun, born in 1991 and Zhang Renbo, born in 1998.

China and Russia are close geostrategic partners. Just days before Russia’s full-on invasion of Ukraine three years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping signed a document declaring a “friendship without limits” between their nations, although China has since dropped the phrase as the war grinds on.

China is not known to have provided troops or armaments directly to Russia, but has provided strong diplomatic support and an economic lifeline through the purchase of oil, gas and minerals and the vast majority of “dual-use” goods such as engines that have both military and civilian purposes.

Zelenskyy said he is willing to exchange the Chinese fighters for Ukrainian soldiers held captive by Russia. The two men were fighting in different Russian military brigades and were captured in two different villages in the Donetsk region. Zelenskyy said the two were being held by the Ukrainian Security Service in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian president stepped back from accusing Beijing of having an overt policy of deploying mercenaries to Ukraine, saying he was not sure yet what China’s intentions were. MDT/AP