China last week unleashed some of its strongest criticism against Russia since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Yet any suggestion that Chinese President Xi Jinping is shifting his view on the war amounts to wishful thinking.
The rare admonition took place Friday over an incident involving Chinese citizens — including a popular video blogger — who were denied entry from Kazakhstan into Russia at a border checkpoint. Video footage widely circulated on Chinese social media platforms over the weekend showed Russian border officials going through suitcases, with one of the travelers saying he felt like he was being treated as a criminal.
"Russia’s brutal and excessive law-enforcement activities in this incident have seriously violated the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese citizens,” the Chinese Embassy in Moscow wrote in a post on the social media platform WeChat.