Chinese Citizens Support Russia-China Partnership, Wants Putin To Win Ukraine War: Report

A lot of Chinese citizens are in support of Beijing’s partnership with Moscow, with many also wanting Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the war against Ukraine, a recent report showed.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is slated for a three-day state visit in Moscow with Putin starting Monday, marking the first time Beijing’s leader will visit Russia since it launched its invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago.

Many Chinese citizens are applauding Xi’s upcoming visit with Putin across Chinese social media. Some are also wishing for Putin to achieve his goals in the invasion of Ukraine. A CNN report described China’s censored platforms as having “all hearts and thumbs up emojis” in reaction to the scheduled meeting of the two leaders.

“Hope Russia will win soon. Hope there will be world peace,” one Chinese social media user said.

“Long live China-Russia friendship,” another user said.

It is unclear what Xi and Putin will discuss during the talks. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said China will conduct the state visit with the aim of urging peace and promoting talks between Russia and Ukraine.

The Kremlin, on the other hand, said Putin and Xi will discuss “topical issues of further development of comprehensive partnership relations and strategic cooperation between Russia and China,” as translated by Reuters.

Steve Rosenburg, a Russia editor for BBC News, said Putin’s meeting with Xi will likely focus on building an “anti-Western world” with Beijing and possibly looking to China for help with lethal aid and direct military assistance for the war in Ukraine.

Stephen McDonnell, the outlet’s China correspondent, expects the meetings to focus on promoting bilateral ties between the two countries and focus on the Ukraine war. McDonnell also added that the talks could go three ways: China asking Russia to consider withdrawing, Beijing pushing Moscow to keep going or go in harder in its offensives, or Xi staying neutral on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Since the war in Ukraine began in February last year, China has sought to project itself as neutral. It has neither condemned Moscow’s aggression nor has it voiced support for Kyiv. However, China has denounced Western sanctions against Moscow and accused the U.S. and NATO of provoking Putin to take military action.