Caravanserai
Human Rights

'I won't stop talking': Ukrainians in China stand against disinformation

By Caravanserai and AFP

This photo taken on March 27 shows tech worker Valeriia Litovka (right) discussing online content about the conflict in Ukraine with fellow Ukrainians at a coffee shop in Beijing. Thousands of miles from a home consumed by conflict, a group of Ukrainians in China have found themselves on the frontlines of an information war, battling pro-Russia bias, trolls and censorship. [Noel Celis/AFP]

This photo taken on March 27 shows tech worker Valeriia Litovka (right) discussing online content about the conflict in Ukraine with fellow Ukrainians at a coffee shop in Beijing. Thousands of miles from a home consumed by conflict, a group of Ukrainians in China have found themselves on the frontlines of an information war, battling pro-Russia bias, trolls and censorship. [Noel Celis/AFP]

BEIJING -- Thousands of miles from a home consumed by conflict, a group of Ukrainians in China have found themselves on the frontlines of an information war, battling pro-Russia bias, trolls and censorship.

Around 300 volunteer Ukrainian translators, with some also based overseas, are relaying key events from Russia's war on their homeland into Chinese.

Their mouthpieces are a website called "Ukraine News", a Chinese edition of state news agency Ukrinform, and channels on messaging app WeChat and YouTube.

It is for the consumption of a Chinese audience otherwise fed a limited diet of broadly pro-Russian news on the invasion of Ukraine, in a country whose leaders are among Moscow's few remaining friends.

This photo taken on March 27 shows Lidiia Zhgyr, a 29-year-old environmental educator from Ukraine, discussing online content about the conflict in Ukraine with fellow Ukrainians at a coffee shop in Beijing. [Noel Celis/AFP]

This photo taken on March 27 shows Lidiia Zhgyr, a 29-year-old environmental educator from Ukraine, discussing online content about the conflict in Ukraine with fellow Ukrainians at a coffee shop in Beijing. [Noel Celis/AFP]

A women holds her baby in a Ukrainian flag as people March 24 in Hong Kong protest to mark the one-month mark of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. [Isaac Lawrence/AFP]

A women holds her baby in a Ukrainian flag as people March 24 in Hong Kong protest to mark the one-month mark of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. [Isaac Lawrence/AFP]

"We channel all our energy, anxiety and grief into doing something," Lidiia Zhgyr, a 29-year-old environmental educator from Cherkasy, Ukraine, told AFP.

Russia's bloody invasion of Ukraine, now into its fifth week, has killed thousands and forced more than 3.9 million to flee the country, according to the United Nations.

It has provoked widespread global outcry -- although not from Beijing, which has instead provided diplomatic backing for Russia.

During a phone call last week, US President Joe Biden warned his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping of "consequences" for any material backing of Russia.

But Washington's attempts to isolate Moscow have so far failed to move Beijing's leadership.

And in the gap, Ukrainian volunteers are battling to change Chinese public opinion.

After the initial shock of war, Zhgyr decided to help address what she describes as China's "information vacuum" on the conflict.

On a recent weekend in a trendy Beijing cafe, a small group gathered to discuss content for their Chinese-language YouTube channel, which gained more than 1,000 subscribers in the week since it was launched -- despite needing a virtual private network (VPN) to get over China's Great Firewall.

"The majority of people on Chinese social media support Russia," said Zhgyr.

"But I also believe the majority of people doesn't have access to objective information."

They have set up another channel on messaging app WeChat to post videos of the conflict with Chinese subtitles.

Many videos are blocked by censors even though volunteers avoid posting graphic content, and the apps mostly used by the Ukrainian diaspora are inaccessible in China.

"The huge disadvantage for us is that there are no official news [outlets] from Ukraine in China," she added.

Meanwhile, Russian state media have several reporters based in China.

Fight for truth

Many Chinese media outlets have pushed Russian conspiracy theories about US-funded biolabs in Ukraine and have blamed NATO for the crisis.

Equally, pro-Russia voices dominate China's highly controlled social media environment.

It is "very hard" to share truthful information about the war in Ukraine, Valeriia Litovka, a tech worker based in Beijing, said.

"Still we fight for freedom, for the news, for truth," she told AFP.

"We don't want to offend other countries, and Ukrainians respect the rules here ... the goal is to give the message that people shouldn't be killed by someone else."

There have been small signs of a shift in Chinese state media coverage, with some recent reports acknowledging civilian casualties caused by Russian invaders.

The volunteers also say Chinese state media have quoted their translations of Ukrainian data on Russian military losses.

"At least one person told me they changed their opinion," said Zhgyr.

The Kremlin denies targeting civilians, though evidence has suggested otherwise.

The information environment the Ukrainians in China face mirrors that of some Central Asian countries close to Russia.

Kyrgyz media, like their Russian counterparts, call the war a "special military operation".

In Kazakhstan, citizens are growing increasingly frustrated with Russian television channels that are either spreading Kremlin propaganda or saying nothing at all.

However, Uzbek media outlets have sought to maintain objective reporting and have refused to toe the Kremlin's line.

Guilt and resistance

China's small Ukrainian expat community has dwindled to about a few thousand since the pandemic.

Some say they have received support from Chinese friends as their country has been devastated by war.

"We feel guilty that we are not there," said Litovka, whose relatives are hiding in bomb shelters in Kharkiv.

Others have had to block acquaintances expressing pro-Putin views on social media.

Ukrainian wine trader Eugene has given up convincing Chinese people online but helps the cause in other ways.

"I posted several videos on WeChat but later decided to remove them," said Eugene, originally from western Ukraine, who gave one name only for privacy reasons.

"I never imagined I would encounter this kind of opposition ... it wasted too much energy."

While many pro-Ukraine viral posts and petitions have been censored, a few pockets of support remain -- including the two Weibo accounts operated by the Ukrainian embassy in China.

Pro-Ukraine Weibo users have translated news about the war into Chinese and debunked Russian propaganda, with some posts gaining hundreds of likes.

An immense volume of materials still need translating, and the volunteers are determined to gradually expand their reach.

"My position is very clear... I speak about the war that Russia is conducting over Ukrainian civilians," said Zhgyr.

"This is what I will not stop talking about."

Do you like this article?

0 Comment(s)

Comment Policy * Denotes Required Field 1500 / 1500