China is attempting to present itself as a peace mediator in Russia’s war against Ukraine while amplifying Kremlin narratives attempting to justify the war and pointing the finger at the United States.
While claiming it stands for “peace” in Ukraine, the Chinese government repeatedly blamed the U.S. for violence in Ukraine in recent weeks, variously blaming Western exuberance over the collapse of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, NATO’s membership expansion over the years, and the U.S.’s provision of weaponry to Ukraine before and after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry and Chinese state-run media have also joined the Kremlin in pushing allegations about Pentagon-backed biological warfare labs in Ukraine, claims the U.S. has repeatedly rebutted and condemned as part of a disinformation campaign. The U.S. and Ukraine have consistently denied the claims, and Russia and China have never provided any proof despite Russia pushing the claims against Ukraine and other former Soviet states for many years.
“We took note of Russia’s false claims about alleged U.S. biological weapons labs and chemical weapons development in Ukraine. We’ve also seen Chinese officials echo these conspiracy theories,” a State Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “To be clear: This is preposterous. It’s exactly the kind of disinformation operation we’ve seen repeatedly from Russia over the years in Ukraine and in other countries around the world, which have been debunked conclusively, and an example of the types of false pretexts we have been warning the Kremlin would invent.”
The spokesperson added: “It is Russia that has a long and well-documented track record of using chemical weapons. … It is Russia that has long maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law.”
Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang said Sunday it is “naive” to ask why Chinese leader Xi Jinping wasn’t condemning Putin’s invasion. But he insisted: “China’s trusted relations with Russia is not a liability. Actually, it’s an asset in the international efforts to solve the crisis in a peaceful way. China is part of the solution. It’s not part of the problem.”
President Joe Biden and Xi spoke at length on Friday. The Chinese government’s readout contained no criticism of Russia but claimed, “China stands for peace and opposes war.” The readout included the Chinese sayings that “it takes two hands to clap” and “he who tied the bell to the tiger must take it off.” Both echoed Chinese efforts to blame the West for the war in Ukraine.
CHINA WON’T CONDEMN RUSSIAN INVASION
Putin and Xi met at the start of the Olympics in February to announce a broad strategic partnership “without limits” amid Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s border. The State Department said that China has since “amplified” Russia’s narrative on NATO.
Since the full-scale invasion was launched, China has carefully avoided condemning Russia. While the U.S. criticizes China for its “at least tacit approval” of Russia’s invasion, China has repeatedly sought to place blame at the feet of the U.S., calling it one of the “culprits of the crisis.”
Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian repeatedly cited Russian claims last Monday, asserting some as fact.
“According to information released lately, dozens of biological laboratories in Ukraine are operated under the order of the U.S. Department of Defense,” the Chinese official claimed. “The relevant U.S. research is aimed at creating a mechanism for the covert spread of deadly pathogens.”
He said: “China has been calling on the U.S. to make public its bio-military activities at home and abroad, including details about Fort Detrick.”
Chinese diplomats, along with an ecosystem of state-run media outlets, have relentlessly pushed baseless claims on COVID-19’s origins about the U.S. military, including Maryland’s Fort Detrick, since March 2020. Russia and China have spread COVID-19 disinformation, claiming the virus originated with the U.S. military there for two years, and Zhao continued pointing to Fort Detrick throughout this month. The Soviet Union falsely claimed in the 1980s that HIV originated there.
The Pentagon and State Department criticized China’s claims about the U.S. military and Fort Detrick last April.
Zhao claimed last Tuesday: “The evidence revealed by Russia shows that the U.S. is trying to obtain means of releasing biological chemical weapons.”
He approvingly pointed to comments by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last Wednesday and said: “This is neither about U.S. labs in Ukraine alone nor a new problem caused by the current situation.”
The State Department added: “Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them. It’s a clear pattern, and no one should fall for it.”
The State Department said it initially identified Beijing’s amplification of Moscow’s messaging regarding its “core interests” and “national security” related to Ukraine and more recently saw China promote a “Defensive Russia” narrative falsely casting the U.S. and NATO as the “true aggressors” “forcing” the Kremlin’s hand.
Sen. Marco Rubio wrote last week that “the CCP’s complicity in the atrocities Russia is committing in Ukraine can be added to that list” of Chinese government “sins.”
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Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said this month that Ukraine has biological research facilities that the U.S. was concerned Russian troops may be seeking to gain control of.
The U.S. and Ukraine signed an agreement in 2005 for the Defense Department to assist Ukraine in the “prevention of proliferation of technology, pathogens, and expertise that could be used in the development of biological weapons.”
