Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, a group of Chinese men on social media expressed their willingness to host homeless Ukrainians fleeing the war – but said priority would be given to “Ukrainian women between the ages of 18 and 25”. ».
Similar comments could be found on major social media platforms in China. Some male users said they wanted to “welcome homeless young Ukrainians”, while others said they “welcome Ukrainian beauties to China”. The comments and pro-Russian sentiment on the Chinese Internet have left Chinese citizens trapped in Ukraine in a difficult position.
In a video released by the Chinese online media, “Fei Dian”, a Chinese student in Ukraine, said that the sexist posts had been translated into Ukrainian and that someone had thrown water at Chinese citizens in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, shortly after the start of the posts. to circulate in the country.
“War is tough, so please do not treat it as a game,” said a Chinese student, who was identified only by his last name Zhang. “The only difference is that it did not happen in China, so please do not make fun of the Ukrainian people.”
The Chinese ambassador calls for empathy
Another Chinese student said that some Chinese nationals in Ukraine were confronted by Ukrainians. The Chinese embassy in Ukraine, which initially encouraged citizens to carry Chinese flags in their cars for protection, quickly urged them not to identify themselves or wear national identity signs.
In a video speech released late last month, Fan Xianrong, the Chinese ambassador to Ukraine, advised Chinese citizens not to quarrel with locals and discouraged them from filming in public. He also called on the Chinese to show empathy for Ukrainians.
Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao said the sexist comments reflected the fact that some men in China continue to assert their masculinity by objectifying women. “These comments were made by some ‘cyber-hooligans’ whose patriarchal beliefs were reflected in the half-hearted comments,” he told DW.
Yaqiu Wang, a senior researcher on China at the Human Rights Watch (HRW), said discussions about “Ukrainian beauties” had been going on in China for a long time, but that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had further exacerbated the phenomenon. In 2016, Chinese media widely reported a story about how a Chinese man from Henan Province married a Ukrainian two months after they met.
And in 2019, phrases like: “Ukraine is full of beautiful women who can not marry and desperately need unmarried Chinese to save them” also went viral on the Chinese internet. Chinese media have also published articles focusing on how much money Chinese men have to spend to marry Ukrainians.
Chinese social media deletes thousands of posts
Shortly after the comments provoked reactions, social media platforms in China began deleting offensive posts and videos. Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, reportedly deleted more than 6,000 videos, and microblogging site Weibo removed more than 540 comments from dozens of different accounts.
In a public statement released via its official WeChat account on February 26, China’s cyber-administration urged Chinese citizens not to post false information and “vulgar content” related to welcoming Ukrainian women to China. , as such content “provokes public sentiment and has a major negative impact on cyberspace”.
Teng’s lawyer said authorities in China did not take action to address the comments until they began attracting attention abroad, saying they had tarnished China’s international image. “The Chinese government wants to save face and its first concern is of course the image of the Communist Party and the Chinese government,” he told DW.
“Although this incident is mainly the opinion of some Internet users, if the Chinese government does not deal with it properly, it will also indirectly affect its image,” Teng added.
HRW’s Wang said China’s censorship regime is not always quick to act when it comes to dealing with sensitive issues.
“The Chinese government assigns specific staff to monitor celebrity accounts, but even when they are cautious in censoring online content, there may be some unexpected issues that may make it difficult for them to respond in a timely manner,” Wang said.
Shift of responsibility?
Following the controversy over the online comments, China’s state media also began to highlight the issue, claiming that some “anti-Chinese individuals and organizations” were trying to “play” inappropriate content.
In an article published on February 28, China Daily, an English-language publication belonging to the Chinese Communist Party, acknowledged that a small group of users had made inappropriate comments about Ukrainian women. However, he also claimed that some “anti-Chinese forces” had tried to advertise the inappropriate content, citing research published by the China Cross-Strait Academy, a Hong Kong-based think tank.
According to the article, a private think tank expert claimed that two Twitter accounts, one he described as a Taiwan-related account and the US-based online media site SupChina, were behind sexist comments about his women. Of Ukraine.
“It was under the co-operation of the Taiwanese anti-Chinese forces and the Chinese mainland that these ‘obscenities against Ukraine’ had become a negative trend,” said Lei Xiying, a member of the Communist Supported party. Pan-Chinese Youth Federation and founder of the think tank.
However, Teng believes that the allegations that the comments were made by anti-China forces are simply “nonsense”.
“The Chinese Communist Party believes that such online comments will affect China’s image, so it is trying to shift the blame to the forces that claim to support the independence of Taiwan and Xinjiang,” he said.
Edited by: Leah Carter
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