Chinese Netizens Are Praising Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine, Dub Putin ‘Greatest Strategist’

Chinese social media users are lauding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with many dubbing Russian President Vladimir Putin the “best strategist” in modern years.

Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday. In his speech, the Russian president claimed he was invading Ukraine because the West aimed to use the country to invade and destroy Russia. He also asserted that Russia has no choice but to resort to violence to protect its hold over Europe’s east.

Chinese internet users have taken to social media platform Weibo to celebrate Putin’s speech, with many calling him “Putin the Great” and “the greatest strategist of this century.”

“Why was I moved to tears by the speech?” wrote @ASsicangyueliang. “Because this is also how they’ve been treating China.”

Some Chinese social media users also chastised Russians protesting against the invasion of Ukraine and accused them of being brainwashed by the United States.

The stance of Chinese social media users was also stoked by Beijing that, a day before the Russian invasion, claimed the U.S. was behind the tension between the two countries.

“When the U.S. drove five waves of NATO expansion eastward all the way to Russia’s doorstep and deployed advanced offensive strategic weapons in breach of its assurances to Russia, did it ever think about the consequences of pushing a big country to the wall?” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said during a daily press briefing.

Despite the strong pro-war sentiment on Weibo, many other Chinese users on messaging app WeChat warned they would block Putin supporters. Some people also shared articles detailing China’s troubled history with Russia. The posts, however, were deleted by WeChat for violating policies, according to The New York Times.

The pro-Russia sentiment comes after Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met two weeks before the invasion, releasing a joint statement on Feb. 4 at the Winter Olympics where they claimed their countries’ friendship had “no limits.”

Senior U.S. officials also urged China to tell Russia not to invade Ukraine, giving them intelligence showing Russian troop buildup near the borders of Ukraine. Chinese officials, however, shared the information with Moscow.