Canadian banners supporting Ukraine vandalized by Chinese nationalists in Beijing

Mar 02, 2022

Beijing [China], March 2 : The banners installed by Canadian Embassy for supporting Ukraine were vandalized by the Chinese nationalists in Beijing.
The information was shared by the Chinese social media handle Badiucao. Banners with slogans Canada in solidarity with Ukraine and its people displayed #StandWithUkraine banners earlier.
Rong Zhen, a film director with 57k followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo, was behind the vandalisation of Canadian banners and he showed off his despicable action on Weibo.
Meanwhile, Actress Kela and Jin Xing were banned from Weibo for sharing anti-Russian comments.
Weibo account from Chinese actress Kela with almost three million followers also got banned for sharing Russia's anti-war protest against Putin's invasion of Ukraine. She posted "nothing is forever, only goodbye is".
Weibo suspended the account of Jin Xing - a Chinese Trans dancer with over 13 million followers - after he posted critical comments on Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Moreover, the Chinese students in Ukraine are appalled at the apathy shown by the Chinese embassy regarding their evacuation from the war-ridden country.
Due to Beijing's support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese students in Ukraine are desperate now.
They are calling for help on WeChat. One such user said, "the embassy never comes, no plane comes, we can only save ourselves, they abandoned us, and even China's journalists /internet censored our voice for asking help".
At present, there are about 6,000 Chinese nationals in Ukraine, mainly in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Sumy, according to Global Times.
Notably, the Chinese embassy initially advised its citizens to display the flags of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on their cars as a sign of their neutral position concerning the ongoing conflict.
However, revoking this decision on February 26, the embassy told its citizens to "avoid ... flaunting symbols of their identity", the publication reported citing Radio France Internationale (RFI).
The Chinese embassy also advised the PRC nationals to maintain "harmonious relations with the Ukrainian people " and "avoid confrontations on specific issues."
With China's pro-Russia attitude in the whole conflict, showing the PRC's colours got some Chinese citizens in Ukraine in trouble.
"I put the national flag on my car, as the embassy recommended. Then people started chasing me, what the [expletive]," the media outlet quoted a Telegram user.
"Do you dare take responsibility for your words? Putting the flag on yourself and going outside is looking for death. Everyone knows that the Chinese here are affluent and well-supplied, and on top of that people here think the Chinese support Russia's invasion of Ukraine," said another user berating the Chinese embassy.
Notably, though the Chinese Foreign Ministry on February 23 said the sovereignty of all nations, including that of Ukraine, must be respected, it has accused the United States and its allies of augmenting the situation.
Further, Chinese President Xi Jinping on February 4 signed a major strategic agreement with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, securing the economic and diplomatic ties between the two countries.