Ukraine crisis: no Chinese students killed in Kharkiv clashes, state-run newspaper reports
- Global Times counters Ukrainian news site claim that 4 Chinese nationals among 13 killed at a dormitory in the country’s second-biggest city
- China under pressure to address the safety of its nationals in the conflict, analyst says
The Ukrainian news site Obozrevatel, or Observer, had reported earlier that 13 students died after Russian troops fired at a dormitory at the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture. Four of the students were from China and one was from India, the report said.
The report could not be independently verified and the Chinese embassy in Kyiv did not respond immediately to a request for information.
But Chinese tabloid Global Times reported on Friday that the embassy had confirmed with the institution that the names of students mentioned in the Ukrainian report did not exist and the campus had not been bombarded.
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Located in the country’s second-biggest city, the academy specialises in cultural studies and has more than 2,500 Ukrainian and overseas students from across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
In a video link address to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukrainian troops were using foreigners as “human shields”, including the Chinese students who were shot at, and Indian students who were “taken hostage” by “neo-Nazis” units.
In response, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said the students could not leave Kharkiv and nearby Sumy because of “indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian armed forces on residential areas and civilian infrastructure”.
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In a call with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed the importance of keeping Chinese citizens safe.
Kuleba said the safety of foreign citizens was important to the Ukrainian government and that China had played “a constructive role” on the issue, with more communication anticipated, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.
Raffaello Pantucci, a senior associate fellow at British think tank Royal United Services Institute, said the Chinese foreign ministry was under increasing pressure to address its nationals’ safety in the conflict.
“Chinese human cost will bring it home to people,” Pantucci said.
“It reminds the government that they have a responsibility, which goes with the fact that the Communist Party is supposed to be the government to all Chinese people.”
He said it was difficult for Chinese authorities in Ukraine to take care of all of its citizens in the war zone but the Chinese public had high expectations, given China’s relations with Russia.
“You can see the public asking, ‘can’t we protect our people in a war involving our close ally?’” Pantucci said, adding that Chinese casualties were unlikely to change Beijing’s fundamental position on the conflict.
“They don’t want to choose sides – they don’t want to encourage Russian behaviour nor tell them off.”
Danil Bochkov, an analyst at the Russian International Affairs Council, a think tank close to the country’s foreign ministry, said Beijing would remain neutral while continuing to express concerns about worsening security conditions for civilians.
“Casualties are unavoidable in the areas where active combat takes place, so China is unlikely to escalate the situation by emphasising those tragedies too much,” he said.
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China’s position was also reflected in its decision to abstain from a United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s operation.
“The abstention can be interpreted in different ways – some interpret it as not supporting the Russians, others interpret it as tacitly supporting the Russians,” Pantucci said.
“There’s a long tradition of [Chinese abstention] in votes where Russia is involved.”
Bochkov said the relationship between the two countries would not change much.
“It will remain as strong as it is, because Russia will now have to rely more on China following its complete alienation from the West,” he said.
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China’s evacuation efforts came later than other countries, which urged their nationals to leave Ukraine more than a week before the Russian invasion began.
He also thanked those countries for allowing Chinese people to enter and transit.
